Am I Pretty Again Ranma’s Declaration of Womanhood
by obsidians
Summary: This is based on the episode of the same title. Ranma get hit on the head and becomes sweet and girly again and someone's appointed as her bodyguard. Is that romance in the air? This shall be like lemon meringue pie, fluffy lemons in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Ranma ½ or its characters; Rumiko Takahashi does and I make no money from writing this story.

It was Mousse's turn for guard duty as he did a rotation just like all the other able bodies male Amazons when the word came that his wife was in labour. He was quickly relieved by a friend and told to go to her. Needing no more encouragement, he ran like the wind through town to get to his beloved.

He held her, tried to sooth her as best as he could while she struggled to bring their first child into this world. He wished that it was him that had to go through this pain while her body heaved and writhed in labour. Yet she never complained, his wife was a warrior to the end and as tough as nails despite her petite appearance. Their love had come as a shock to all, even them but neither would have chosen another. Nor did they ever regret their choice. A person who had meant much to both of them was now the friend that sat with his wife while he was on guard duty incase her labour pains set it. It was this kind, fearless, but gentle woman who had sent word to him and summoned the mid-wife. Mousse had wanted her to go to the hospital nearby, but there was simply no time. His daughter was in a rush to greet the outside world and was coming soon.

He felt so useless while he gave her sips of water, bathed her sweaty face, whispered words of encouragement, sang to her and told her to push when instructed by the midwife. He'd fully expected her to curse that he was ever born, curse him and curse his penis, yet she remained loving throughout. Finally their daughter slid into this world. They watched with bated breath as the midwife cleared her airways, turned her upside down and spanked her tiny bottom to fill their hut with healthy newborn wails, the most beautiful sound the new parents had ever heard. She quickly delivered the afterbirth, cut the umbilical cord, cleaned her and then left. Both thanked the midwife as she slipped away silently to leave the young couple to count fingers and toes.

"Mu Tzu, I would like to introduce you to your daughter" his exhausted wife said in a charmingly formal way. Mousse could only stroke the ginger coloured fuzz on her head. 'A redheaded Amazon' he thought. He turned to his equally redheaded wife and said "I love you Ranma, she's the most beautiful baby ever"

The new Amazon Ranma was no stranger to vanity, she stared into her daughter's clear emerald green eyes that were so like her father's and said "she was born from us; she has to be" Her husband's laughter joined her own while Lily turned her newborn eyes to the window to greet her first sunrise.

******

A/N

Want to know how this pairing happened? Read future chapters.

I would like to introduce a new writer on here who isn't getting the attention she deserves. She's only done two stories, but writes the characters wonderfully she humanizes them beautifully and also does wonderful partial lemons in her first one and then goes on a do a wonderful full lemon in her new one. Her name is kiliwaRECKLESS and I recommend that you check her out. Sid loves her!

I know that people aren't fond of non-Akane/Ranma pairings, but keep in mind this is just a fan fic, the canon remains firmly intact. As people know, I find Akane hard to write and I like Mousse, he's my sort of yummy.


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing much surprised Mousse in Nerima, the place was where they sent rest of Japan's crazy people was his theory. So he wasn't even surprised when a female Ranma dropped out of the stratosphere to rest at his feet. He was tempted to just let his unconscious enemy lie like a dog in the dirt or give him a kick, but simply couldn't. She opened her vivid blue eyes and stared up at him. "Ranma are you okay?" Mousse asked her.

"It that my name?" she asked in a voice that he'd never heard her use before; it could have rivaled sugar for sweetness and won.

"Yes", Mousse said in confusion and held out his hand to her "are you able to stand?" he asked becoming slightly concerned.

She extended her own tiny hand and he helped her up, she swayed slightly and he reflexively put an arm around her to steady her. She looked dazed and put her arms around him "are you my husband?" she asked after noticing that she was a female.

Mousse blushed bright red at this and hastily said "no, I'm Mousse, I'm your.....friend. Don't you remember me?" he asked.

"No I don't remember anything" she said in that same gentle sweet voice and to his horror, her eyes filled with tears. She looked hopelessly lost and woebegone.

"It's okay Ranma, we'll get you help. Please don't cry" Mousse practically begged, not able to stand seeing Ranma acting like the helpless girl. He thought for a second that she was faking losing her memory, but her act was too good and she clearly wasn't herself.

"Who am I?" she asked.

"Your name is Ranma Saotome, you live here in Nerima, Tokyo with your fiancée, her family and your father in a house a few blocks from here" Mousse explained.

"Ranma, isn't that a man's name? Oh I'm engaged, wait did you say her? Am I gay?" she asked alarmed at the idea, it was so perverted!

Mousse blew out a breath and wondered how he got sucked into these things "you're actually a man" he explained.

Her eyes grew wide with shock; she looked at herself and then tentatively touched her breasts, then blushed when she realized that Mousse had seen her acting so brazen. "So I'm some sort of pervert?" she asked in a panic.

"No you become a female when splashed with cold water and turn back to a male when you are doused with warm. It's called a Jusenkyo curse. I've got one too, I become a duck. You were born a man, we'll get you changed back in no time" Mousse assured her.

"But what if I don't want to?" she asked, her innocent blue eyes filling with tears at the idea.

Mousse started placating her "no one's going to make you, you can stay a girl as long as you want" he promised. "But we should go to Dr. Tofu's clinic to get you examined as to why you can't remember anything. He's a really nice man" he assured her.

"I trust him if you recommended him" she said, Mousse thought this statement a little weird. He led her to the clinic, only to find that she was swaying on her feet. Carefully he boosted her onto his back and did the one thing he never thought he'd do for Ranma; he piggybacked her to the clinic. He marveled at how tiny she actually was and how little she weighed as she clung to him so trustingly.

If Dr. Tofu was surprised to see two sworn enemies together, he didn't show it. He just ushered them in so that he could get both their stories. He checked her head and found a huge lump on it. "So tell me what you remember?" he asked her.

"Nothing until I woke up and this dear, sweet man took care of me" she explained in her honeyed tone of voice. Dr. Tofu looked startled and Mousse's eyebrows shot up to hear Ranma describing him that way.

"Ranma, or would you rather be called Ranko? You appear to be suffering from amnesia" Dr. Tofu explained.

"Would you call me Ranko? It's such a pretty name" she said and clasped her hands happily together. This caused the males to be shocked again.

"S-sure Ranko, I would be happy to" Mousse stammered.

"I have a theory, Ranko, do you mind if we run a test? It won't hurt you" Dr. Tofu said.

"Sure" she said happily and picked up a teddy bear that one of his young patient's had accidently left out. Mousse's jaw dropped when she hugged it and kissed its nose. "Hello Mr. Bear" she said in a bright, happy tone of voice. 'This can't be Ranma' Mousse thought.

Dr. Tofu came in with a kettle and a pitch of cold water, stood her before a full length mirror and said "Ranko what do you see?" he asked.

She giggled and studied herself from all angles "me I guess, but why aren't I wearing a pretty dress?" she said with a frown at her baggy Chinese clothes. Dr. Tofu poured the kettle over her head and she morphed into her male form, she stared at herself for a second in shock and then began to wail in an extremely gay tone of voice. "What have you done to me, I'm hideous! Change me back!" she cried and then flung herself into an extremely surprised Mousse's arms. His eyes went wide and he sweat dropped to be suddenly holding a sobbing male Ranma. Sensing Mousse's discomfort, Dr. Tofu hastily dumped the cold water over the sobbing male, so that it was a damp girl that Mousse held instead. It made him feel slightly better, but if anyone had asked Mousse's opinion which half of Ranma he would rather hug, Mousse would have chosen neither.

"It's okay now" he found himself saying in a soothing voice. She leaned back and turned innocent blue eyes on him.

"You promised I wouldn't have to become like that!" she accused him.

"Dr. Tofu had to assess the situation, it won't happen again" Mousse said and reminded himself that this was his worst enemy that he was comforting.

"I'm sorry Ranko, would you mind getting us some tea?" Dr. Tofu asked her.

"I forgive you, of course I will" she said giving them a sunny smile and skipping off to boil the water.

"I have a theory. This isn't the first time that this has happened to her, one time a blow on the head from a skillet caused her to become like she is now. As far as I can tell she's the female side of Ranma that he represses. She's pretty much the opposite of what he is, she's sweet, naive, peaceful and just loves being a girl and all things feminine" Dr. Tofu explained.

"So she becomes Kasumi?" Mousse summed up.

Dr. Tofu repressed all natural tendencies when her name was mentioned to make Mousse understand how grave the situation was "in a nut shell yes, but the twist is the last time she didn't lose her memory, just her male personality. That she recognized neither of us concerns me" he said with a frown.

"It doesn't surprise me, it's not like I was even friend to him, er her" Mousse pointed out.

"Did she remember anything when you questioned her on finding her?" Dr. Tofu asked.

"No she seemed to think I was her husband" Mousse replied with a blush.

"Its as I feared, you need to take her home and explain the situation to her father and the Tendos'" Dr. Tofu said.

"Why me? It's not like I even like her" Mousse protested.

"I have other patients and if I call the house they're going to send Kasumi to come get her and then I'll be useless to all" Dr. Tofu explained. "Besides, it looks like you make her feel safe"

"Oh, that does make sense" Mousse agreed faintly, getting that sucked in feeling that he used to get when his youngest sister presented him with a flowery hat and apron to attend her tea party in.

"The tea's ready" announced Ranko giving them a sweet smile. They both turned in surprise to see the prettiest tray of tea that they'd ever seen. She'd chosen the pale pink English tea set with matching cups, folded each napkin into origami swans and arranged cherry topped cookies into a smiley face on the plate with a white doily behind it. "I hope you don't mind, your nurse told me where to find your usual tea pot, but this one was so much prettier" she explained. Somehow she had managed to acquire a white ruffled apron and a red gerbera daisy was tucked behind one ear. The effect was charming, sweet and entirely unlike the Ranma the both knew. Now sweat drops appeared on the back of both of their heads.

Dr. Tofu just looked at Mousse and he conceded "I'll make sure she gets home okay" he replied.

Ranma stood peering at the holes in the fair sized house "this is where I live?" she asked dubiously. "Why does it have all those holes in it?" she asked nervously.

Mousse opened his mouth to explain that they were caused mainly by his male side, when the door flew open and Akane marched out demanding "Ranma where the hell have you been?"

This caused the female Ranma to get startled and hide behind Mousse. Akane blinked in confusion at the scene "who's that?" Ranko asked in a frightened voice.

"This is Akane, she's your fiancée" Mousse answered.

"She's seems so violent" Ranko simpered.

Akane put her hands on her hips and snapped "what are you playing at now Ranma?"

"Calm down Akane, I have things to tell you about Ranma......" Mousse said and was invited in and explained it to all of them and then they all introduced themselves to the confused girl.

"Again?" Nabiki said.

"Oh my" Kasumi added.

"Ranma snap out of it!" Akane demanded "we can't go through this again!"

Mousse noticed how she flinched from this "perhaps you shouldn't yell at her right now?" he suggested. "She's confused about who you are and doesn't know her own identity"

"He's right" Kasumi said "Ranma do you remember who hit you?"

"Please call me Ranko" she implored. "No all I remember was waking up and seeing Mousse-kun"

"Of course" Kasumi said with an encouraging smile.

'Mousse-kun?' Mousse himself thought, not used to hearing himself addressed so loftily by anyone.

"We'll all help you get through this, just like the last time" Kasumi assured her.

"I say we spare ourselves the trouble and brain him now" his father grumped, utterly disgusted by his son's sweet, cloying ways, Soun Tendo nodded solemnly in agreement.

"What was that?" Kasumi said with an edge in her voice.

"Nothing Kasumi" they said playing innocent.

"Well, it looks like my job here is done" Mousse said rising, happy to wash his hands of the entire thing and get back to doing what he loved best, pursuing Shampoo. He rubbed his hands together in glee when he realized that Ranma was out of commission for now. "Ranko, I wish you a complete recovery" he said while his brain added 'a long slow one'. "Thank you for the tea, I'll be going now" he said with a respectful bow. He was about to turn leave and when a blur of red streaked towards him and then suddenly Ranko had her legs wrapped around his waist and she was clinging to his robe like a monkey.

"You can't leave, I don't know these people!" she cried.

He pushed at her, she didn't budge an inch, he could only marvel at her thigh muscles. "You don't know me either, these people as you call them, are your family and they'll take care of you" he said trying to pry her off of him to no avail.

"But I feel safe with you" she said with her eyes filling with tears.

"You'll be fine" he said. "I only live a couple of blocks over and will give you a phone number to reach me at"

"You mean it?" she said and allowed herself to be lowered to the ground.

"Of course, you can ask anyone here. I live above the Nekohanten, that's a Chinese restaurant, with a......couple of friends" he said, not wanting Ranma to remember Shampoo anytime soon.

"It's true Ranko, I'll show you where it is" Kasumi offered.

"Oh, okay" Ranko said accepting the number from him and allowing Mousse to leave. He was relieved to get away from the bizarrely cute, charming Ranma. He hoped that he wasn't becoming like Ryoga, who would latch onto any girl that gave him the time of day. Then dismissed that thought, there was only one girl for him. He pushed open the door to the restaurant and she looked at him. Just that simple look was enough to make his heart race and his head feel light. "Hello Shampoo" he said in the high, rushed voice that he could never help using around her, even though it embarrassed him by how desperate he sounded.

His head felt even lighter when it received a solid clunk from a wooden staff and a gruff voice demanded "boy where have you been. I sent you out to get soya sauce over an hour ago?"

He lay there with his head reeling while the old ghoul stood on his chest and Shampoo laughed along with all of the customers. He hated that his only role in Shampoo's life seemed to be for comic relief. He thought about telling them about his strange encounter with Ranma, but then pictured Shampoo dashing off to take care of him and replied "I must have lost track of time"


	3. Chapter 3

Mousse was going to work out with the Cologne and Shampoo. He loved watching Shampoo bending and shaping in a hypnotic dance as she paced through her martial arts moves with Master Chang and then sparred with her. Mousse paced along with her and then hit the weight room to try and add muscle bulk to his lean frame. He could now bench two hundred and eighty five pounds; he was proud of himself and wished the Shampoo would look impressed when he told her. Everything he did was with her in mind. He had been very happy to leave his awkward stage behind of being a tall skinny nothing who was all arms and legs. With strict discipline and a punishing regime of weights, cardio and martial arts, his skinny frame had blossomed into lean hard muscles. He would always be lithe, but at least his shoulders were wide and his back straight. His V shaped torso tapered into a small waist, rock hard glutes and long legs. Mousse thought himself to be reasonably good looking despite his horrible vision problem, but that would be rectified, he had been saving up for laser surgery and nearly had enough. However, his main problem was that he seemed to the lack sex appeal that the male Ranma had in abundance. He didn't think this to be very fair, he didn't need four fiancées, he just wanted one girl to give all his love to and marry. He looked at Shampoo and his heart melted. 'Why can't you love me?' he thought. His life would be so much better if she did. He would go from being depressed all of the time to being elated. He would be the best husband to her that he could be and never even dream of cheating on her. He had so much love to give, if only, if only.

"What Mousse say?" Shampoo asked bringing him out of his state of reverie.

He blushed when he realized that he had said if only out loud and said, "I was just saying that you look pretty today" and she did. She wore a cropped blue sports cami and mid thigh length bicycle shorts that looked magnificent on her ample curves and left nothing to the imagination. He could almost imagine what she looked like naked and blushed again slightly at this.

"Mousse you have a phone call" Cologne cried to him, effectively breaking his happy little bubble of daydreams.

"Who call you?" Shampoo asked him, she couldn't remember his receiving a single call since he'd come to live with them.

"I think I know" he said with a frown, but he was surprised to find out that it was Kasumi Tendo.

"Mousse-san I'm sorry to call you so early in the morning, but we're having a bit of a crisis. Ranko has locked herself in the bathroom and refuses to talk to anyone but you" she explained.

Mousse sighed and got that sucked in feeling again. There was going to be no workout for him that morning nor any teasing peeks at his beloved. "I just have to change and I'll be right over" he promised. He went to his room and pulled off the black tank top and blue shorts that he had on and slipped into his normal robe and pants. He departed for the Tendo residence and was admitted by Kasumi. He wasn't surprised to find all of the Tendos and Mr. Saotome huddled comedically around the bathroom door. "Ranko, it's me Mousse, would you let me in?" he asked, he was rewarded with the lock turning and only he was admitted. She closed the door firmly against prying eyes. She looked upset and wore a modest flowered nightgown. "Ranko what's wrong?" he asked her.

"I went to get ready for school and they gave me these to wear" she said showing him Chinese clothes that he recognized as belonging to Ranma. "I told them that I didn't want to wear these. I wanted a girls school uniform like Nabiki and Akane wore, so they started saying that I was unmanly and a disappointment. I'm unmanly because I'm not a man, why can't I dress like the rest of the girls? I don't think it's a crime" she said with a sniffle.

"Ranma always wears these clothes; they're just what everyone's used to. I'm sure that they meant no harm" he said.

"I'm not Ranma, no one but you seems to realize that" she said.

"It's okay; I'll get it sorted out. I'm sure one of the girls has an extra uniform you could wear" he promised.

"What about for underneath? I certainly can't wear boxer shorts, that's perverted" she said and then blushed and looked down "and I certainly need a......" she said and said something in a voice so low that he couldn't make it out.

"You need a what?" he asked in confusion.

She turned so deep red that she was practically purple, she gestured for him to bend down "I need a bra" she whispered, embarrassed at having to reveal to a male something so intimate.

Mousse bit his lip to stop laughing at how shy and modest she was, she was so unlike Ranma! "I'll see what I can do" he promised and went out the door. The rest of them looked at him expectantly. "Do either Nabiki or Akane have a spare uniform? She wants to wear a proper uniform like the rest of her gender and proper underclothes" he explained.

"I think that she would fit into my old one" Kasumi volunteered.

"I can help with the bra and panties" said Happosai as he hopped through the window. "Why does Ranma need them?" he asked and the others quickly brought him out to speed while he sorted through his lingerie collection, until he brought out a cute set of virginal white panties and a bra. "32DD ought to fit her, I have a good eye for ladies sizes" he said as he presented these to Mousse. "Hot dog, Ranma's become a sweet young thing again" he said his eyes lighting up in anticipation of getting the gullible girl to pose for lingerie shows.

Mousse could sense what he was thinking and stooped down to his eye level. He bowed to him formally and said "Happosai, Grand Master of the martial arts school of Anything Goes I would like you to swear on your honour as a martial artist that you won't attempt anything with Ranko that you wouldn't Kasumi"

Happosai opened his eyes wide in shock, no one had ever made this request of him, they normally just pounded on him and sent him into the stratosphere. He could never do what he attempted with the other girls to Kasumi; she was the sweet great-grandchild he'd never had. "So she's really like Kasumi then?" he asked, referring to the other girl's innocence. Mousse nodded. "Very well I won't interfere with her and will aid in her protection" he agreed.

Pair of knee socks and black flats were donated to the growing pile of clothing and Mousse knocked on the door to gain admittance. "I got these for you" he said and held them out, "I'll send Kasumi to help you with anything that you might be unfamiliar with"

"Thanks Mousse" she said with gratitude and impulsively gave him a hug.

"It's no problem" he said with a blush.

Ranko went into Kasumi's room with her and watched her transformation in the mirror. The lingerie fit her perfectly and so did the dress, she looked cutely feminine and adorable she thought. The blue uniform went well with her glorious hair and blue eyes. She frown and touched her braid, she didn't like it that much. She undid the hair tie and shook it loose. "Kasumi do you know how to do hair?" she asked.

"I can cut it, but can't style it too well" she replied. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Just brush the kinks out of it and perhaps add a hair band" she explained.

"Sure I can do that, I believe that I have a hair ribbon that would match your uniform" Kasumi said and went to fetch it.

"See crisis averted, just listen to what she's saying and respond, don't think about what Ranma would want, he's another person" Mousse lectured. They all turned when Ranko came out, all jaws dropped at how cute she looked with her hair down and a neat bow tied onto the side of her hair ribbon.

She smiled shyly at Mousse "do I look okay?" she asked.

"You look beautiful" he said honestly.

"Would you walk me to school?" she asked.

He looked at his watch and realized that it was too late to work out "sure why not" he replied. So he had the honour of escorting three hot girls to school.

"Will you come pick me up to walk me home?" Ranko asked.

"I don't think that I can, I have to work for a living" he replied.

"Oh okay" she said sadly.

"Well, I suppose I could" Mousse said hating to disappoint people.

She lit up and said "thank you so much Mousse-kun."

"Hey no problem" he replied feeling it weird that he found her really cute.

When he returned he couldn't see Ranko "are you looking for Ranko? If so she's in the nurse's office with Akane" Nabiki explained.

"Is she ill?" Mousse asked.

"A guy kicked her can; she didn't even try to defend herself. You're not Ranma's only enemy, he has them here at school also" she explained and led him to the nurse's office. Mousse sucked in his breath in rage at her black eye and torn dress. She looked pitiable.

"He didn't rough her up that much because she wasn't hitting back. The only hard punch he landed on her was just enough to give her the black eye" Akane explained.

Mousse sat down beside her "are you okay?" he asked her.

"It was horrible, he kept on accusing me of things I can't remember doing and then attacked me" she sobbed.

"Ranko why didn't you clean his clock? You have martial arts moves that haven't even been invented yet" Mousse inquired.

"I hate violence, I don't remember any of that nor want to use it" she explained. "Ranma must be horrible if people hate him so much" she sniffled.

Mousse felt compelled to put his arm around her and did "Ranma's not a bad guy; he's a better martial artist then most people and likes to brag about it. That pisses a lot of people off and he has a lot of cute fiancées that other guys want and that pisses them off too" he explained.

"Do you hate me?" she asked

"No I like you" he answered truthfully and they left.

"That's the guy who punched me" she said when they walked past the school yard. Mousse took one look at his smirk and then suddenly he had the young fool by the collar and was punching him and yelling at him. He blinked in surprise; he hadn't even remembered approaching him nor yelling "you will leave this girl alone from now on" He released him and rejoined his female companions.

"That was so brave" Ranko said admiringly. "I hate violence but it was so sweet that you did for me" Mousse could only blush.

"I think that we're ignoring the big picture" Akane said. "Ranma's enemies aren't going to stop attacking Ranko just because she's lost her memory. They're just as likely to attack her female form as her male" she pointed out. "She's a sitting duck like this; she's going to need a bodyguard until she gets back to normal"

Mousse had thought the same thing, but his head still spun when Ranko turned those large, innocent eyes on him and said "Mousse would you be my bodyguard?"

So many things went through his mind at that time 'guard an enemy who stood in the path of my true love, ridiculous. In this form I could kill her if I wanted and claim my bride' but then he realized that that would be like stepping on a smurf at tantamount to slaughter. "Ranma I can't be this for you, the nature of my relationship with Ranma prevents this" he explained.

"I thought that you understood that I'm not him?" she pleaded.

"I do understand, but Ranma holds something that I want, so I can't be your bodyguard" he said.

"What is it? If you tell me what it is, I'll find it and return it to you right now" she said so earnestly that it almost broke his heart.

"It's more complicated then that" Mousse said with a fond smile, he almost wished that she was a real girl as he stroked her cheek. She blushed at the contact.

Akane said to Ranko "come on let's go ask Kuno"

"Who's he?" she asked. Mousse paused at this, in his minds eye he saw Ranko alone with the crazy kendo while he pushed her down as she screamed helplessly, tore her dress and underwear from her body and forced himself into her...."

"Wait I'll do it!" he cried hastily, which was exactly what Akane was hoping would happen. She would much rather trust the safety of her amnesiac fiancée to the Shampoo obsessed Mousse then the perverted kendoist. "Only Cologne has to agree, I can't do it without her permission"

Cologne didn't believe them at first when the three teenagers came to see her and proposed their plan. What convinced her was the pitiable sight of the Ranma. She knew that her son-in-law wouldn't get a black eye from a single punch and would rather die then wear the get up that she had on. Everything about Ranma was different, the way she talked and held herself, her body language, even the way that she walked. It was like someone had replaced her with a rather beaten up traditional Japanese beauty. It was....disturbing.

"So you want Mousse to attend school with you and follow you around?" she asked.

"Yes, I know that it's an awful inconvenience for poor Mousse-kun, but would you mind? He's already agree" she simpered, flashing him a bright, smitten smile.

"Mousse's paid to be a waiter here" she pointed out.

"Yes, but he explained to me that it's the dinner rush that you really need him for, I'm prepared to assist him during this time and you don't have to pay me" Ranko offered.

Cologne studied her shrewdly; another cute girl waitress would be good she reasoned. "Okay, but you do get to keep your tips" she agreed.

She widened her eyes when the young woman bounced and clapped her hands "thank you so much ma'am, you're the best" she cried happily. Cologne did have to admit that it was better then being called the old ghoul.

"You don't mind?" Mousse asked; he'd hoped that she would reject Akane's idea.

"No, it would be good husband training for you. Besides someone has to keep an eye on Shampoo's airen until she gets back to normal" Cologne said.

"Thanks for that" he said coldly and was about to tell her what to do with THAT idea when he was dragged away by a joyful Ranko.

She took his arm and pulled him towards the door "come on Mousse, Ranma has a school uniform in his closet that looks like it's never been worn. You can wear it" she cried.

Mousse compared his body to Ranma's and retorted, "I'm sure it'll fit like a glove" imagining it bagging on him.

"Don't worry we'll make it fit" she said happy that her new friend would be looking out for her. He was awfully cute she thought with a blush.

Cologne watched the teens rush away and then had the best laugh that she'd had in over one hundred year. She wished that Shampoo hadn't gone on her friend's training mission now. Wouldn't she love to know that her new competition for her airen's love was Mousse?


	4. Chapter 4

Mousse put on his school uniform and frowned at his image, it wasn't that he looked bad in the uniform; it was a plain black with a mandarin collar. Similar to the collars that he normally wore, what bothered him was that there was no uniqueness to this look. He looked like thousands of other high school students and that bothered him. He could see why Ranma had never worn this uniform, the brash boy liked to stand out and wear the more flashy Chinese clothing that Mousse rejected. The uniform originally had been too short in the leg and too large in the shoulders and chest. However with some careful tailoring on the part of Kasumi, it now fit perfectly. He looked foxy according to the reborn Ranma and the rest of the Tendo household were kind enough to agree. Mousse wondered if Shampoo would like his uniform or laugh at him, probably the latter he suspected. He wondered how the hell he got into this situation, all he did was try to be kind to an injured person and look where it got him, protecting the virtue of his transformed sworn enemy. The worst part was that try as he might to hate her, he liked her; she was so sweet and nice to him. He'd never dealt with someone so feminine and demure, Amazon women were warriors and their skills certainly didn't include trying to treat a male right. She deferred to his wishes and did everything she could for him. It was a new experience being treated as a dominate male rather then as a doormat. He picked up his book bag and prepared to go to school for the first time in over a year, but his first stop was the Tendo house to get his charge.

Ranko had taken a bath and wiped off the mirror to examine the male form that she normally ignored. Long black hair fell in wet strands down his back. She examined first his chest and then the rest of his body; she blushed when she saw his cock and balls. She hastily averted her eyes from these and focused on his face. It was a more masculine version of her own with slate blue eyes, the same button nose, baby cheeks, pouty lips and long eyelashes. However there was where the comparison ended, his features were boyish, whereas hers were girlish. Ranma was a very well developed boy with a powerful taut body she observed. She wondered what his personality was like; he had to be charming to have four girls insisting that they were his fiancée. She could appreciate his good looks, but preferred a leaner sort of body on a male she decided and dumped a bucket of cold water over her head.

She squealed and her nipples went hard as the cold water transformed her. It was a stupid curse she thought. She herself had only been born recently when she opened her eyes to see the handsomest face staring down at her. She was lucky in the respect that she wasn't a blank slate; she knew the proper name of things and seemed to have most basis survival skills intact. It seemed to be that the base personality had become dormant, leaving her in control of the body. She examined her now feminine body; this was the one she felt the most comfortable in. She was small, she barely came up to Mousse's shoulder, but buxom with full breasts, a nipped in waist, generous hips and high, full behind. Her body was lush, healthy and nicely toned. She made a mental note that she should start working out to keep it so. Was she pretty she wondered, was her body and personality enough to entice the love a man? Could this weird body carry and birth their children? She wasn't sure who she even was and everyone but Mousse was treating her like she a disease soon to be cured. She felt unwanted, an alien in her own home. Every gesture of wanting to learn womanly skills seemed to offend these strangers she lived with. Kasumi was the only one who seemed to enjoy spending time with her. The middle sister Nabiki was always trying to get her to model for embarrassing photograph, Akane was always yelling at her to 'snap out of it', her so-called father who should love her told her that she was an embarrassment on a daily basis and Mr. Tendo just kind of ignored her. Then there was her Uncle Happi, he seemed to own an endless supply of women's lingerie that he gave to her to wear. She normally wore Akane's clothes and didn't understand why she got so insulted when she made remarks about them not fitting right. Akane was less endowed then she and had a slightly thicker waist, how was telling the truth offensive?

She decided that she needed her own wardrobe to establish her identity. She didn't want to just be a false Ranma anymore.

Ranma touched her breast experimentally and pinched her nipples lightly; it was a pleasant sensation. She blushed when she thought about what she had read about sex on the internet the other day. Sitting down on a bench, she spread her legs and teased open the petals of her sex to examine her soft pink interior. She didn't even know if she was a virgin or how to check for this. She wondered if Mousse knew and blushed at the idea of him examining her this way. This caused her clit to throb. She reached a finger tentatively towards it and just brushed the sensitive tip. She gasped when a bolt of pleasure shot through her. She did it again and this time started to rub it in a circular motion and moaned when pleasure rippled through her, she could feel each rub building up to something that was just around the corner. She pictured Mousse still on his knees before her, watching her rub herself. She could practically feel his hot breath on her exposed genitals and came hard! She was flushed and panted when she stopped cumming and then blushed at her wicked thoughts. She wondered if Ranma had done this to her body and felt disturbed by this. Then she realized that Mousse would be there soon and ran to get dressed.

Mousse smiled when she flounced out the door to meet him, was it his imagination or were her eyes particularly bright this morning? She caught her breath at how handsome he looked in his uniform.

Cologne was happy when her great-granddaughter arrived home "nihao great-grandmother" Shampoo said brightly, she'd had a good time training with her friends and was in a great mood. There was nothing like training with proper visiting Amazons after being mainly surrounded by weak, useless Japanese women. Shampoo braced herself to push Mousse off of her when he glomped to her as he always did whenever she'd been away. When nothing happened she got confused and looked around for him.

"Where Mousse?" she asked.

"He's in school" Cologne responded.

"School?" she repeated.

"Yes the young fool started attending Furinkan High School this morning. He's got a uniform and everything" Cologne replied.

"But why Mousse want to attend school?" she asked in confusion. She'd thought that the only thing he cared about was her.

"Oh he was quite determined; I even had to pretend I was HIS great-grandmother to help him enroll. They thought that just because he was raised in a 'primitive' village that he was illiterate. I got the Chinese high school you attended to fax his transcripts to them and then they accused us of them being fake because his marks were too high. I pointed out that he has a photographic memory, a genius level I.Q. and skipped a grade, but they still made him take this stupid placement test and he got a perfect score. In the end he was allowed into her grade and placed in her class" Cologne said, being purposefully vague.

"Her?" Shampoo said; she couldn't have been more stunned at this moment if her beloved great-grandmother had admitted that she was a cross-dressing Happosai.

"Yes Mousse's new love interest" she replied.

"Mousse have girlfriend?" Shampoo said in shock.

"I wouldn't go that far but they seem pretty close" Cologne observed.

Shampoo wondered what the hell had happened, she'd only been gone for a few days and now her permanent stalker had undergone an extreme personality transformation. School? A girlfriend? For some reason the idea of Mousse liking someone else disturbed her. She determined that she would get to the bottom of this. "Good for Mousse, this keep him out of Shampoo's hair" she said nonchalantly and went to go unpack.

Cologne couldn't help chuckle at her deliberate deception, but she thought it to be harmless. Shampoo would be startled by who it was and then they would all share a laugh when Ranma was back to being himself. Mousse was way too into Shampoo to develop feelings for the suddenly feminine Ranma. The girl's crush was harmless and would never be reciprocated.

Mousse took to school easily and was able to follow the lessons well enough. He'd always been a good attentive student and applied himself to learn. Just because he was there to act as a bodyguard didn't mean that he shouldn't be a proper student. His petite companion never left his side and he took to carrying both their books, he tried not to notice that on her binder was scrawled "Mousse + Ranko" in a heart shape. He didn't mind it too much; in fact he was flattered that someone thought him cute.

At lunch they opted to sit outside to take advantage of the nice weather. She pulled out her bento box and waited for Mousse to do the same. "Didn't you bring lunch?" she asked.

He blushed "I forgot, I'll get something at the Nekohanten later, I'm not that hungry" he explained and then his stomach growled.

She laughed and opened her bento box "share this with me" she said, "Kasumi always packs too much. We only have one pair of chopstick, do you mind sharing?" she asked.

Mousse was again touched by her kindness, if it had been Shampoo he would have starved. He had a high metabolism that required lots of food to maintain muscle bulk. "Okay, but you eat most of it" he said.

She picked up her chopsticks, scooped up a piece of barbequed squid and held it towards him "We're sharing this equally" she said firmly and smiled when he allowed her to feed it to him. He hummed in appreciation when the well made fish melted in his mouth and wondered if she knew that she got a dimple in her right cheek when she smiled. He didn't object when she alternated between feeding herself and then feeding him until the food was done. He packed the empty bento box away for her and they sat together in companionable silence just enjoying the warm sunshine. She tilted her head back and let it shine onto her upturned face. At moments like these Mousse ceased to think of her as Ranma and just saw how the sun transformed her loose, wavy hair into red fire as it blew gently in the breeze. How dainty she looked as she leaned back slightly with her legs extended before her and her tiny feet jiggling slightly to the tune of an unheard song. She turned to him and opened her vivid blue eyes to look at him; he could see the innocence of the soul contained within. She seemed at peace with herself and content to be in his presence. She looked like a sweet young girl experiencing her first curse. "It's all an illusion" he reminded himself. Soon Ranma would reclaim his body and this Ranko would cease to exist as if she'd never been. Leaving Mousse with only the memory that there was a girl who cared about him and thought him wonderful.

"Ranko, I have to stop by Chinatown after school to pick up some spices for Cologne, would you like to come with me or should I drop you home first?" he asked her.

"I would love to go with you!" she said excited about the idea of going.

Mousse could hardly keep up with the exploring Ranko, she was everywhere at once. She wanted to try every type of food she was unfamiliar with, sample every spice and try on all the clothes she saw. She amused him. Running into people he knew while in the presence of a girl who wasn't Shampoo was an experience. People kept on questioning him about her in his native tongue but seemed to be skeptical that he was just acting as her bodyguard. Still, she was cheerful, happy and got smiles from people even if she couldn't understand them. "Why does everyone keep talking to you in Mandarin?" she asked.

"They're wondering who you are" he explained. "They're used to seeing me in the company of other people and are curious as I'm normally a loner"

"Oh that makes sense" she said and then blushed. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" she asked hesitantly.

"Sure" he replied.

"What's it like to kiss someone?" she asked.

He looked at her to see if she was serious and then thought for a second "I'm afraid I don't know myself, I've never kissed anyone" he explained 'not for lack of trying' his brain added.

"Really? With the way you look, I assumed that you were beating girls off of you" she said.

"Sorry, I'm normally the one being beaten off" he muttered, but glowed at her compliment.

"Pardon?" she asked, but luckily got distracted. "Oh that's pretty" she exclaimed and stopped in front of a window to examine a peach-coloured lace trimmed dress. Mousse frowned and touched his wallet. He had nearly enough for his laser eye surgery with his wages from last night, but wanted to do something nice for her. Everyone seemed to treat her as an annoyance that would go away when the illustrious Ranma returned to brighten everyone's lives, but Mousse had come to know her as an individual and liked her. She deserved to be treated well and he knew how to do it. He knew the store owner; he sold quality clothing for discount prices and would always give the Amazons a further discount out of respect. Oh he knew this store really well; it was a favourite of Shampoo's and a trip into it meant new clothes for her and an empty wallet for him with barely a thank you.

"Would you like to try it on?" he asked.

"I would love to, but I have no money" she said, barely able to tear her eyes away from it.

"I've got money, let's get you some new clothes" he said and then blushed when the petite girl was suddenly hugged him and exclaimed how wonderful he was.

She tried on several outfits, he got to know her style and kept bring more dresses over for her to try on. She like modest, but figure skimming dresses with clean lines and subtle feminine touches, a bit of lace or ruffles trimming them. In the end she chose three that she loved the best: one was the peach one, a jade green dress with a ruffled bottom and a midnight blue sundress. Then they started arguing about how many she was allowed, Mousse wanted to buy all three, but she insisted that that was too much and she would just take one. He was amused by this turn of events, normally Shampoo chose whatever she wanted and he had to come up with a way to pay for them. Eventually the kindly owner said that he was having an unannounced two for one special and only charged him for two dresses. He'd always felt sorry for Mousse, he so much the patsy when it came to Shampoo. The owner was happy for him that he'd found a genuinely nice girl.

Holding her bags they exited the store, only for him to be hustled into the boy's store across the way. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

"I want to see what you look like in Western clothes" she replied. He tried to refuse, but she pouted and he gave in. Now it was his turn to be the model. She exclaimed while he tried on various jeans and t-shirt combinations, combat pants and khaki pants. He felt like a fool but enjoyed being admired. Finally he came out in the black business suit and white dress shirt she'd insisted he try on. "Well?" he asked striking a pose.

When she remained silent, he turned around and was surprised by the awe in her face "you look wonderful" she said clapping her hands. He really did look good and had no clue about it.

"Really?" he asked dubiously.

"Please buy them Mousse" she pleaded.

He looked at the price tag and realized that it was going to be a longer while before he got his laser surgery. "Okay I will" he agreed. He went to put his uniform back on while she wandered around the store. Finding a sweater would match his eyes, she ran back to the change room with it. She went to rap on the door to see if he was decent, he hadn't locked it and it slowly swung open. Ranko froze when the sight that greeted her eyes was a pair of hairless round, muscular ivory hued buttocks. She turned as red as a tomato but couldn't stop staring. Mousse brushed his hair out of the way from his bent over position and registered that Ranko was staring transfixed at his butt and that this was the wrong day to go commando. He'd forgotten to put his clothes in the dryer the night before and had no clean underwear. Ranko gulped pulled the door closed and then had a seat in the nearest chair to pull herself together. She was horribly embarrassed to be caught peeping at her friend like that. Mousse joined her soon, he didn't seem angry, merely amused.

"I'm so sorry" she said, her face still bright red.

"It's okay, you're hardly the first girl to see my bare butt" he commented.

"What?" she said in shock.

"I grew up with three sisters" he explained.

"Mousse why do you have a tattoo on your butt that reads made in china, in Japanese?" she asked.

Now it was his turn to blush "I belonged to the Chinese circus for a short time and there was a show in Nerima; I was trying to get revenge on Ranma and attempted to do so by turning Akane into a duck. It was never my intention to really do it. As usual it ended in my defeat. I was depressed and went drinking with a friend, to make long story short we ended up in a tattoo palour and both of us asked for something Chinese. So for some reason I ended up with' made in china' on my rear, written in Japanese. I guess that the tattoo artist really had a sense of humour" he explained. "You're the only one who knows about my tattoo besides him and my friend"

"I'll never tell anyone" she promised.

"Good, lets go get some ice cream" he suggested.

Shampoo was walking through the Dragon Mall when she saw them; she was surprised by how different Mousse looked in a school uniform. He looked handsome she thought. Shampoo could only see the back of his companion's head; she had red hair she noted. Uncommon for Japan, perhaps she was a foreign exchange student she reasoned? Mousse looked relaxed in her company and seemed to be enjoying himself, she could tell from how he was smiling and laughing at what she said. This was a side of him that she never got to see because he normally became clingy around Shampoo.

Curiousity won out and she went over to introduce herself to his friend.

Mousse looked in surprise to see Shampoo walking towards them "Shampoo?" he said.

The person opposite him swiveled and Shampoo was surprised by who it was "Airen!" she cried in shock.

Ranko could only look from one to the other and realized that Mousse had a girlfriend, a bolt of jealousy shot through her. She got up and glared at the other girl. "Mousse who's your friend? She looks cheap with her paint on clothes and slutty makeup" she declared, staring distastefully at her attire.

"Why Airen say that?" Shampoo asked hurt.

"What's an Airen?" she demanded.

Mousse was somewhat amused to see the most dangerous woman in his tribe being insulted by her husband this way. He held the same opinion about the majority of her Nerima clothes. "It means beloved husband, Shampoo's one of Ranma's fiancées" he explained.

"What you mean Ranma, she's Ranma" Shampoo declared.

"No she's Ranko, you'd better have a seat, we have a lot to explain" Mousse suggested.

Afterwards they walked Ranko home, she was skipping ahead relieved to find out that Mousse was single. If Shampoo didn't want him, she did!

Shampoo and Mousse walked at a more sedate pace "I don't like it, he's no good to me like this" she said in Mandarin. "He'd better get back to normal soon"

"Until he does, I promised that I would guard her" Mousse said.

"It's your duty as an Amazon to protect my husband" she ordered.

"I don't give a damn about Ranma, its Ranko that I've sworn to protect" he hissed.

"They're the same person" she said dismissively.

Ranko turned around and flashed a sweet smile at him; she was trying on a straw coolie hat at a stand and she looked adorable in it. He smiled back fondly "no they're not" he answered.


	5. Chapter 5

Shampoo lay in bed covered just by a silk sheet that molded itself to her gorgeous curves; she gave Mousse a seductive smile and beckoned to him. He approached the bed, took a hold of the sheet and drew it off of her to reveal her naked body to his hungry gaze. His mouth went dry as large breasts sprang into view, followed by a miniscule waist, a taut, flat muscular stomach, a plump purple furred pubic mount and then long powerful legs. Shampoo was perfect! She held her arms out to him and he joined her in the large western style bed, he sighed as perfumed female flesh pressed against his own. Her mouth met his, their kisses were deep and hungry as their tongues wrestled for dominance. His finger penetrated her sheath to find her dripping wet. He pressed her back and arched over her to settle at her entrance, the place he'd always dreamed of being. His hungry gaze met hers as he rocked his hips forward to enter her gates to heaven itself. He hissed as her hot, liquid tightness gripped him and she moved with him in the dance older than time. Their bodies heaved and rocked together in a rhythm that would have made the waves jealous at their perfect synchronicity. His lips met hers and their velvety tongues merged again, while he tried to make this last as long as possible. Her mews of pleasure were music to his ears. They came together in mutual bliss and then he cradled her sweat bedewed body close, her slick breasts nestled against him and he could hear her heartbeat. "I love you" he whispered to her.

She cuddled him closer and said "I love you too Mousse" Realizing that there was something different about her voice, he lifted his head up to stare into Ranko's happy, flushed face.

Mousse sat bolt upright in bed. He sat there remembering his dream and then said one single word "shit"

Akane was surprised to find Ranko in her room and wondered why the girl blushed and hid something behind her back. She'd tried to like the other girl, but she was a painful reminder of the missing Ranma. "What have you got there?" she asked her suspiciously.

"I'm sorry Akane, I was just admiring this picture" Ranko admitted, pulling it out from behind her back. "I wasn't going to steal it"

Akane looked at it; it was the group photo from the floating island. This caused her to smile; Ranma had bought her the frame for their first Christmas together. She stroked the glass over Ranma's face 'always surrounded by girls' she thought fondly and turned back to Ranko. "Why were you looking at this picture?" she asked her.

"He looks so handsome in it" Ranko explained.

"Ranma?" Akane asked.

"No Mousse" Ranko admitted, she blushed even darker and touched where he was in the picture. She could barely make him out as he was hidden behind Shampoo, but it was the only photo she could find of him.

Akane's eyes went wide to discover that the girl had a crush on her guardian. She didn't think her capable of those emotions. "You know that you can't have him right? It's not just because he's in love with Shampoo, but that you can't have a real relationship with anyone. Once Ranma takes control of his body then you will cease to exist" she said as nicely as possible.

Her eyes filled with tears "you think that I don't know that? Akane if it would make you happy, I would give Ranma back to you in a heartbeat. I can dream, can't I? What I wouldn't give to be a real girl" she said and gazed sadly at the photo.

Akane put her arms around the girl, feeling sorry for her desperate love. "Mousse is really handsome without his glasses on" she agreed.

"I know, and he's so kind and has the nicest smile" the other girl enthused.

"You should have seen the tiny shorts he wore on that vacation" Akane said.

"Please tell me more" the other girl begged.

"Of course, why don't you hang onto this photo for now" Akane suggested.

"You don't mind?" she said.

"Of course not" Akane assured her and told her all the Mousse stories that she could think of, Ranko listened to them hungrily.

Mousse was out walking with Ranko. She wore a dark blue flared skirt with yellow butterflies on it and a yellow sweater set that matched the yellow of her skirt. She'd whimsically pinned a blue butterfly brooch to her sweater. In the few short weeks that she had appeared, Ranko had grown as a person; she was no longer a scared, timid little creature. They had built a wardrobe for her supplied by swap meets, garage sales and even Shampoo had donated hand-me-downs that no longer fit her. She matched these pieces into a style that was uniquely her own, that drew attention to her cute figure, without displaying it too much. She would smile at people in the streets and they would smile back at the pretty girl. She was the most popular waitress in the Nekohanten, but her manner wasn't flirtatious. She just was sweet, friendly and took a personal interest in all of her customers. She had several men ask her for dates, but she just thanked them and then replied that she had a boyfriend.

Mousse enjoyed working with her; she never failed in her duties. At the end of the night she would automatically take her place beside him and dry the dishes as he handed them to her. Then she would sweep while he put the chairs up. They worked well together and he enjoyed being with her, a lot. He spent almost every waking hour with her and looked forward to seeing her each morning. This disturbed him somewhat, and then there were the dreams....... He snuck a peek at her and she beamed back under her cute flowered sun hat.

"Ranko I have to get a key cut for you. Do you want to come in the store with me?" Mousse asked.

"It's so nice out, I think I'll just have a seat on that bench" she said, pointing to a shaded bench.

Mousse was only in the store for a few seconds when he heard a scream; he dashed out to find a struggling Ranko being clutched by Kuno while she comedically struck him over the head with her purse. Mousse sighed, he knew that they would have to see her suitor soon or later, they'd been lucky until now that he'd been away. "Let go of my fiancée" Mousse demanded before he even had a second to think. Both confused faces turned to him.

"Since when are you involved with this woman?" Kuno demanded, but released her. She ran to Mousse's side and he put his arm protectively around her.

Mousse got a really bad feeling about this, but thought of a melodramatic story that might tug at the heart strings of the delusional kendoist. Mousse lowered his head and then looked up "we were engaged at a young age by our parents" he said, slightly ripping off the real Ranma's story.

"Wait a minute, there's no way that she's Chinese. She certainly doesn't have your accent" Kuno objected.

"She's Chinese citizen as much as I am. She was spirited from our village at a young age by a childless Japanese couple who happened upon her by mistake. Taken by her unique red headed beauty, they stole her from her rightful parents and smuggled her into Japan, where she was raised as their daughter Giving up hope of every seeing her again, I sought another fiancée to replace her and tried to claim the heart of Shampoo. However it was never the same love that I had for my rightful fiancée, Ranko. This sweet, tender creature felt that she was missing someone too, so she tried to console herself with Ranma to no avail" Mousse intoned gravely and winked at Ranko.

She repressed a giggle and said "it's true I simply couldn't love Ranma"

"The cad, abusing her feelings like that when her heart belonged to another" Kuno said in outrage. "Well then tell me your happy ending" he said.

Ranko giggled "the ending is very appropriate way of putting it. I remembered that I once knew someone important to me who had a distinctive birthmark on his rear. It was quite by accident that Mousse forgot to lock the door to his changing room when we were shopping together. I went to knock on the door and it swung open. You could say that all was revealed" she said, Mousse blushed. "I recognized the birthmark right away and started questioning my darling Mousse about himself. As soon as I found out that his missing love had red hair, I confronted my parents and they admitted their deception. So now we are finally reunited" Ranko said, sniffling dramatically and allowing some crystalline tears to run down her face.

Kuno pulled out a handkerchief and mopped away his own tears "true love reunited, that's a wonderful thing" he declared. "I shall never disturb your fiancée again" he promised.

"It's okay, you just startled me" Ranko said, she still had her arm looped around Mousse's waist and didn't seem to be in any hurry to remove it. He hoped that she wouldn't either. He liked holding her this way; she was a friendly soul who loved to give hugs.

"Could I make it up to you by inviting you both to come make use my pool?" Kuno asked.

They exchanged glances that confirmed that they both liked the idea of spending a hot day in the pool at Kuno's mansion "we'd love to" they both said in unison.

Mousse sat in a lounge chair while Ranko went down the waterslide. She squealed at the cold water, she shared Ranma's love of swimming and did so like a fish. She wore a yellow bikini that Mousse suspected belonged to Akane, as it seemed to be tight on Ranko's chest, and then blushed that he'd noticed. As far as pool party went, it was a little one sided. Ranko could only swim in cold water to stay a girl and Mousse could only go into the hot tub or become a duck. So they couldn't really swim together, but they both were having fun doing their separate activities.

Ranko kept on sneaking admiring looks at Mousse's exposed chest and legs. He wore baggy swim trunks but they still allowed enticing glimpses. He lay back in a deck chair and seemed to be snoozing. Quick as wink, she snuck up behind him with a bucket of cold water and poured it over his head. Then there was a damp duck quacking angrily at her. She laughed as he flew after her, until she managed to dodge him and he landed in the hot tub. She laughed when an irate looking Mousse surfaced and then she threw his swim trunks into the water with him.

"I'll get you for that" he threatened when he emerged. He scooped her up and ran into the pool to cannonball them both, then tickled her with his bill. He had found by experience the best places to tickle a girl as duck and suddenly didn't mind being a duck.

When they got back to being themselves, Kuno joined them "are you having fun?" he asked.

'Yes thanks so much Kuno-kun" Ranko said brightly.

"Are you two planning to attend the dance?" he asked.

"What dance?" Mousse asked, he was new to their high school and had only attended the school activities that Ranko wanted to, which included the embroidery clubs, flower arranging and the future homemaker's society. The other members thought that Mousse was 'just a doll" to join with her.

"The spring dance at the finest hotel in town?" Kuno asked not believing that they hadn't heard of it. "The theme is China this year

"Good theme" Mousse muttered in irritation. He noticed Ranko looking at him in anticipation. "Would you like to go with me?" Mousse asked, he felt shy because he'd never really been on a date before.

"I would love to go" Ranko replied with a shy smile.

"Great, you both can sit at my table then" Kuno said.

They were invited to stay for dinner and all opted to barbeque rather then formal dining. Ranko immediately took over grilling the chicken and steak with the help of Sasuki, then went into the kitchen to locate the fixings for three different types of salad and made a pitcher of fresh squeezed lemonade. She poured out some glasses and took them to the boys, and then Sasuki. She'd changed back into her clothes and wore a frilly apron over these. Her hair was still damp from the shower and she looked adorable. She joined the ninja at the grill and said something that got him laughing.

Kuno could only look on with envy at the obvious affection between them. "You're a lucky man, she's gorgeous, a great cook and really charming" he said.

Mousse was really enjoyed his day as her fake fiancé "yes I am" he replied as she started towards him with a plate of food.

They thanked their new friend and walked towards the Tendo home "are you sure you want to go to the dance with me? I can't dance" he admitted.

"It's pretty easy, usually the girl's fast dance together and the men only tend to slow dance" Ranko explained. "Please, it'll be fun" she pleaded.

"Okay, okay I'll go" he said rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad" she said flinging her arms around him and giving him a swift hug that caused him to blush. She wore a perfume that smelled like violets he realized.

They continued to walk and then she blushed and asked "Mousse how do you check if a girl's a virgin?" She was embarrassed to ask him this, but he was the only one that she trusted.

"The biggest indicator is if her hymen's intact" he said with an answering blush. He couldn't see her not being a virgin, but Ranma did play kind of sexy with her form so there was a slim chance she wasn't.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"The best thing would be to go to Dr. Tofu's clinic, he could check for you" Mousse suggested.

Ranko turned red at the idea of Dr. Tofu examining her privates "I don't think that I want him poking around down there" she responded.

"Why do you want me to check?" Mousse joked.

Ranko turned even darker at the memory of touching herself and imagining Mousse watching "no" she said hastily.

"Perhaps you can ask Cologne to? She's normally the one who examines new brides before marriage to bear witness to their virginity" Mousse suggested.

"Do you think she would?" she asked her hopes blossoming.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Not sure why this story isn't getting more attention/reviews. I believe people prefer Ranma to be studly and not for a girly girl to have taken over his body. This story idea came to me after remembering about this episode at 3am, like they usually do and I thought it might be fun to explore her more fully and give her a love interest. Thanks people who are reviewing.

Re: rushing, I didn't think I was. I anticipate about three more chapters at least, more then that would get dull I suspect (I get bored writing a story that has more then 8 chapters unless really inspired)

Sid

*******

Ranko stood awkwardly before Cologne; she was flanked by Mousse. She blushed at what she was asking the elderly wise woman to do.

"I see, you wish me to examine you. May I ask why this is so important to you?" she asked the blushing girl. Ranko, although the same age as both her great-granddaughter and Mousse, seemed younger to Cologne. But then she reasoned that she wasn't raised in a hut where all that separated the children from their parent's love making, was normally a screen or sheet. Amazon children learned about sex early and were married much sooner then Japanese children as result. Cologne herself had married at the age of fourteen after being defeated by the handsomest man in tribe; she'd been lucky that it was a love match and had had a wonderful marriage and lots of children with him. He had known his place, unlike Mousse.

"I don't know if I am or not, and I can't stand not knowing" she said, twisting a hello kitty hanky between her hands nervously. This matched her hello kitty purse.

"Very well, would you like Mousse to be present?" she asked bluntly.

Ranko practically went purple at that suggestion and Mousse choked on his tea "w-why would you even suggest that?" she asked as she pounded him on the back.

"Normally the bridegroom's present during the examination. As Mousse is your chosen guardian, you have the right to request him to stand in place" Cologne explained, she was struggling not to laugh. She genuinely liked the girl even if she wasn't what Cologne was used to. "Just messing with you" she said at Ranko's expression. "You need to come with me" she said.

She led the nervous girl into her own bedroom and had her remove her underwear and spread her legs. Ranko blushed when Cologne bent back her knees to tilt her pelvis and spread her vaginal lips. Cologne very clearly saw the crescent shaped moon membrane as she thought she would. It hadn't been broken in the slightest and was the most complete one that she'd ever encountered due to the fact that the female body was practically brand new. Cologne could have bet high stakes that Ranma was a virgin either both forms. Her sexy, beautiful great-granddaughter had tried to seduce him without any success. Heck she wouldn't be surprised if Ranma was gay! At least Mousse showed passion.

She took a quick look and allowed the girl to set herself to rights. "You're a virgin" she proclaimed.

She could have sworn that there was relief in Ranko's bright eyes. "Thanks so much, I just didn't like the idea that someone might have used my body sexually with my knowing it" she explained.

"Are you planning to become sexually active?" Cologne asked and wasn't surprised when she blushed again.

"On my wedding night" she replied.

Cologne looked at her in pity "Ranko, I don't think that you'll ever have one, you aren't the normal personality that inhabits this body. Once Ranma regains his memories and body, you'll never be seen again. I know that you desire Mousse and can have him, but it has to be soon" she explained.

"I-I'm not the one he wants" Ranko said with a wobbling jaw.

Cologne raised her head to look into her jewel bright eyes "are you so sure? You're a desirable woman and he's a desirable man. Would you deny yourself the physical love of the one you want for silly mores?" she asked her. "An Amazon woman never gives up on what she wants and will go through any lengths to achieve it" she coached.

"I-I don't know. I don't even to know how to tell him" she said flustered.

"Seduce him, show him that you want to make love with him" Cologne said.

"I know so little about sex" she admitted, outside of her explorations on the internet and secretly touching herself, she was pretty clueless.

Cologne smiled and retrieved a particularly steamy romance novel whose graphic depiction of sex scenes had got her through many a night when she needed to clean out her own pipes. Happily it was written in Japanese. "Lord of Scoundrels, read this and it will teach you anything that you wish to know" she explained. Ranko looked with disbelief at the half naked people on the cover with lustful expressions on their faces. She'd seen these books beside Kasumi's bed and had been curious about them, but too polite to ask.

She tucked it into her purse and thanked the elderly woman who had become like family to her. Her own was still intolerant of her. Mousse didn't bother asking the results of the test, she would tell him when she was ready, but did wonder why she kept blushing when she looked at him.

On the pretense that she was doing homework after dinner, Ranko locked her bedroom door and pulled out the bodice ripper. She read the amorous adventures of the wicked, lusty, but emotionally damaged Lord Sebastian Du Vane with his flashing blue eyes and dark good looks and his pursuit of the tawny haired, proud and haughty Lady Celia Musgrave. Ranko blushed and her clit throbbed at the sex scenes. She imagined Mousse doing these things to her amidst a pile of petticoats, feeling his tongue stabbing into her mouth and ravishing her there. Slipping her dress down to lay bare her breasts and suckling at them with abandonment. Lashing his tongue unmercifully between her legs to drive her to a fevered pitch, then conquering her maidenhead with a single thrust.

Ranko's breath became ragged as she imagined Mousse licking her pussy; it was just like in her other fantasy, but now she knew that she wanted for him to do more then watch her masturbate. She could feel herself getting wet and longed to plunge her fingers inside herself, to make herself peak like Celia did after she cruelly told Sebastian that she never wanted to see him again, but dared not. She was afraid of breaking her hymen and that she wanted to give to someone she loved. So instead she played with her clit while she read the final sex scene and came hard because in her mind, it was Mousse with her. "I love you" she gasped when she came, then blushed that she finally admitted it to herself.

She thought about what Cologne had said, she knew that he loved Shampoo and would probably end up marrying her when 'she was gone' she thought with sorrow. Surely one night spent in his arms wouldn't hurt?

She'd been keeping a diary for Ranma so he could get to know her a bit if he wanted and perhaps he would come to understand her motives. Would he forgive her for ridding their shared body of its virginity? Surely he would still have his male virginity to bestow on his own love? Would he begrudge her losing her own to the man of her dreams? To feel like a real woman for a brief time? She felt tears slip down her face at would never be: a prom dress, a graduation dress, a wedding dress and a maternity dress. All those things she wanted and couldn't have. She realized she was being foolish with her dream of waiting until her wedding night. She would never marry Mousse or anyone; she would never have children. Cologne was right; a couple nights of passion while he pretended she was Shampoo was the best that she could hope for.

She picked up the phone and said when she got Cologne on the phone "I'll do what you suggested. Can you arrange it?" she asked.

"Yes Mousse uses our friend's dojo to work out in. He's going there tomorrow and shall be watering her plants and feeding her fish while she's away. We shall decide not to attend and you'll go with him. You'll have the whole place to yourself" Cologne said.

"Thank you" Ranko said and hung up. Cologne pondered the arrangement; she figured that Mousse losing his virginity would benefit the Amazon's by taking the edge off of his desperate love for Shampoo and give him all the more reasons to protect Ranma's body. As for Ranko, she would go away a happier woman. It would be a win win situation for both.

Mousse was surprised when Ranko decided to come with him; he had to admit that she was a distraction as she worked out with a punching bag. She looked adorable in her orange sports cami and black bicycle shorts. He had no idea that she found him just as alluring in his workout clothes. Both people worked out hard while admiring the other's body.

Finally Mousse announced "well, I'm done, I'm going for a steam." He mourned the fact that he was looking at his innocent friend like this. He cursed himself; he was supposed to protect her virginity, not trying to steal it! Mousse felt like a pervert and chastened himself for lusting for his friend. 'I love Shampoo' he reminded himself, who he barely spent time with these days as he was always with Ranko. He wrapped a towel around himself and winched slightly at a sore muscle in his shoulder. He pulled on a robe for modesty and departed the change room. He was surprised to find Ranko wearing just a towel, "I thought I'd have a steam too" she replied.

Mousse paused at this and then swallowed nervously "oh course" he said and led her to the sauna that his friend had installed recently. He poured water on the rocks and had a seat. Ranko sat right beside him, extended her long legs and sighed, this caused her towel to ride up and Mousse hastily averted his eyes and blushed. Then realized that he'd settled his vision on her barely covered breasts, so he stared up at the ceiling instead. Ranko was disappointed, she was trying to be seductive and Mousse didn't seem to notice, that and the poses were making her feel uncomfortable.

She licked her lips "oh doesn't that steam feel marvelous" she said and touched his shoulder; this caused him to jump and then wince when his sore muscle was pulled.

Forgetting her about her seduction game, she asked "Mousse are you okay?" concerned at his wince.

"I think that I pulled something" he replied. "It'll loosen soon" he said.

"Nonsense lie across the bench and I'll massage it out" she ordered and draped his robe across the bare boards. Mousse went to protest but then groaned when she started to work his sore shoulder with strong, tiny fingers and hands. He soon needed no more coaxing and draped forward, she lovingly brushed his damp hair out of the way and worked the muscles of his shoulders to the tips of his toes with expert powerful strokes. Until he felt like his muscles had turned to butter. He'd tensed when she first touched his hard glutes, no one had ever touched him so intimately before, but then relaxed when she just treated them like the rest of the muscles.

"How was that?" Ranko asked, glad that the flush from the steam covered her blush to have touched a male places she never had before. His skin was even softer then she'd imagined.

He propped himself up "wonderful" he replied. "Would you like one too?" he asked.

"S-sure" she said and lay down hastily. Mousse reveled in her soft limbs as he massaged them sensuously. Her towels slipped down to reveal the curve of her breasts and he longed to gather their sweet weight into his hands. He was glad that she couldn't see his cock straining against his towel. He massaged one firm, toned leg and then the other, it took all of his restraint not to push her towel off of her and stroke the rest of her hidden treasures. Her sighs were starting to sound sexual.

Quickly he pulled his hands away "I think we're done" he said, and practically ran out of there. She exited after turning the sauna off.

"Mousse what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing Ranko" he said, "I'm just in a funny mood" he replied. He froze when she put her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked and then her towel slipped to her waist, and then her slick breasts were against his chest. He opened his mouth to protest and then silken lips met his own. He froze in surprise, but surrendered his first kiss to her. He reflexively pulled her tighter against him. His hands stroked her hair and her back while her tongue shyly parted his lips. She could feel his thing poking her in the belly and shivered with nervousness and excitement. "Gods she feels magnificent" Mousse thought, just like how he had imagined Shampoo would feel. 'Shampoo!' his brain screamed when he realized that he was about to break his vow to be eternally faithful to her and about to take advantage of a sweet, naive young girl. He pulled away breathing heavily and quickly tucked her towel around her to conceal her breasts.

He gently pushed her away and said "I'm so sorry Ranko, I may not act like it but I'm a normal man and you're a very attractive women. Do you hate me?" he asked.

Ranko caught her breath, she couldn't believe it. Mousse was apologizing to her when she had just been throwing herself at him! Then she realized that it was indeed Shampoo that he loved and he would only ever see her as a friend. He didn't love her, no one ever would. "Of course I don't hate you Mousse, you're my best friend" she said with a cheeriness that she didn't feel.

"I'm glad" he said and visibly relaxed, he would rather chew his own arm off then hurt her. She was too precious to him to waste on lust. She'd become his world, he'd changed because of her. People had been suspicious of Ranko at first, thinking that Ranma was just playing a game. However when they got to know Ranko, they accepted her as a separate being and she'd even been asked on dates. Now she was one of the most popular girls in school and Mousse envied. "Do you still want to go to the dance with me?" he asked her.

"Of course silly" she said and then blushed when she realized that she was still wearing a towel. "I should go get dressed" she said.

"Me too" Mousse replied.

Their walk home seemed like old times; they chatted and laughed about things, but between them lay an unanswered question. "What would have happened if......?"

Cologne could tell that nothing had happened the minute that Mousse got home, you can always tell if a male made love by the look in his eyes. He just looked frustrated. "Did you have a nice work out Mousse?" she asked.

"It was okay I guess" he replied.

"So you're set on going to this dance?" Cologne asked conversationally.

"You said you didn't mind" he said.

"I don't mind, in fact I thought I might pay for you to stay overnight at the hotel so that you don't have to brave the half hour bus ride at so late an hour" Cologne offered.

Mousse was taken aback by her unheard of generosity on his behalf "what's the catch?" he asked.

"Nothing, both Ranko and yourself deserve to have some fun. You've been going through so many changes with going back to school, working so hard to maintain a perfect grade point average while working full time and guarding Shampoo's airen. You need a break" she said. "It's the least that I can do; Shampoo's already helping Ranko shop for a dress."

"Thanks that would be nice" he replied. Then a thought occurred to him "you do mean two rooms right?" he asked, thinking about what nearly happened, he didn't trust himself to be alone with Ranko until he got his hormones under control.

"I've already checked with the hotel, they have a two bedroom suite available" she replied sincerely while she thought 'there's more then one way to skin a cat"

"That would be fine" Mousse agreed and went to 'take care of' what happened in the sauna. He picked up his lube and thought about Shampoo while he stroked himself in his room. He gave up when all he could think about was Ranko's half nude body pressed against his own. He signed and started repeating "She's an illusion" over and over again like a mantra.


	7. Chapter 7

Dear Readers,

Sorry my little note yesterday referred to the person who asked why I only had four reviews. They were anonymous so I couldn't send him my theory that I included yesterday, which was confirmed by Pangoria Fallstar (not angry Hon, I love getting reviews from you. Admit it, you just read me for the lemons). This wasn't an attempt to increase my reviews. I write for fun, if I was concerned about high volumes of reviews, I would just do mainstream Akane/Ranma pairings (or return to writing Southern Vampire Mysteries). Which I can't do all that well, I need my characters to be sexy for lemony goodness and Akane doesn't do that for me. Mousse does because I used to date the tall, skinny, pallid geeks with long dark hair all my life until I married their master. You write what you know best.

Sid

******

Mousse woke up feeling shaky and feverish; when they found him throwing up and realized that he might have the swine flu. Shampoo and Cologne left a note on the door of the Nekohanten "Restaurant Closed due to Illness" written in Mandarin and Japanese and quickly went to visit friends in a nearby city so they wouldn't get it. They left him some herbal remedies for the virus on the other side of his room and a jug of water and got their Amazon asses out of there as soon as they could. Leaving Mousse alone shivering with fever in his bed.

Ranko couldn't reach anyone at the Nekohanten, so find out her holiday schedule, as school was out for a week she opted to walk over. She was surprised by the bi-lingual sign on the door and used her key to let herself in. Finding no one, she let herself into the apartment over the stair, she felt bad using her emergency key this way, but she was concerned by now. She checked Cologne's room and Shampoo's after knocking politely on the door and then headed for Mousse's.

Mousse heard footsteps and weakly called out "could I have some water?"

"Mousse is that you?" Ranko said stepping into his room, shocked to find the high energy boy still in bed.

"Ranko, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I couldn't reach anyone, so I decided to drop by". Then she stepped closer to the bed and realized how pale Mousse looked. "Are you okay?" she asked and stroked his bangs back to feel his forehead.

Spying a pitcher on the floor, she got it and pour him a glass "you're burning up" she said with concern.

He drank it gratefully and then felt nauseous and ran into the bathroom to heave it up, he felt slightly ashamed when small hands held his hair back until he was done. Ranko had never seen Mousse look so young and vulnerable; he was wearing baggy blue and white striped pajamas that enhanced this effect. Handing him some tissues to wipe his face with, she helped him to stand and got him back into bed.

"I have the flu. Shampoo and Cologne were afraid it might be the swine flu, so they went away for a week" he explained.

"They left you alone?" Ranko cried in outrage.

"I just need to sleep it off" he explained. "You shouldn't be here, I might make you sick"

"I can't leave you alone like this. "I'm going home to pack and then moving in until you're better" she proclaimed.

"I can't let you do that" he protested, but knew that it was impossible to argue with the stubborn, but gentle girl when she was like this.

"Oh yes I am, I'm not leaving you here to suffer on your own" she said and went decisively down the stairs to go home to tell Kasumi and pack a bag.

Mousse fell asleep when she left and woke up to her gently moping his brow with a cool cloth, he welcomed her soft touch. He tried to get her to leave and even bodily carried her down the stair. She only came back up and scolded him for abusing his body that way. He was kind of amused, she weighted next to nothing.

Mousse pretended that he hated being fussed over, but in secret he enjoyed each act of kindness and caress that she offered him. He loved having her around like this; it was almost like he was her grumpy beloved husband and her, his well intentioned, nagging wife. But that was the extent of the relationship, he slept on his futon and she slept on the couch as she felt it rude to use the Amazon female's beds without permission.

For Ranko, it was like paradise being with him, despite his being ill. There was no one telling her who she was supposed to be or how to act. She could spend all the time she wanted with the man she loved; she could touch him, care for him and cuddle him to her hearts content. He never objected when he was in the grip of fever and she lay beside him. He would just spoon around her and this thrilled her. He hugged things in his sleep, like his pillow and she thought it adorable.

Mousse got used to her being his nurse and welcomed finding her at his bedside embroidering by the light from the hallway, so that he wouldn't be disturbed. "What are you making?" he asked on the second day when he was more lucid. He could have sworn that she blushed when she showed it to him. On plain background was a bunch of hearts with wings flying and in swirling letters it read 'In love is the only place to be'

He smiled at the message; it was one that he agreed with. "It's beautiful, your stitching is improving" he said.

She glowed at the compliment "I made it for you, I remembered how you liked bird name martial arts attacks" she said.

"I will always treasure it" he said, he could feel his heart flutter at this simple gesture.

"Would you like something to eat?" she asked.

"No, I'm not hungry" he replied, forcing nausea down at the idea of food.

"There's something that can quell your appetite? I'm shock. I really thought that you ate like a bird, twice your body weight everyday" she teased and caressed his cheek.

He pressed his heated flesh into her palm and then felt sleepy again. "I feel tired, do you mind staying with me until I fall asleep?" he asked.

"As long as you want" she said and then stroked his fevered brow until he was softly snoring, she continued to watch him like he was the most beautiful she'd ever seen.

His flu lasted three days and seemed to get worse at one point; Ranko blushingly removed his pajamas and draped a towel over his privates so that she could bath his limbs with a cool cloth until his fever finally broke. She sighed as his blankets soaked with sweat as his temperature dropped. Mousse opened his eyes to find himself pretty much naked. He blushed.

"Why did you take my clothes off?" he asked.

"Your fever was too high, one degree more and I would have had to throw you into a tub filled with ice" she said relieved that he was better. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Naked and sore" he said.

She laughed "I'll go run you a bath; you can soak while I change the sheets on your bed" she suggested and hurried to do so.

Mousse lay back groaning as the warm water surrounded him, he still felt weak and tired, but at least he felt a bit better now that he was clean. He could feel the muscles pains dissipate and wondered if he could talk Ranko into giving him one of her famous massages. He was disappointed that she would be leaving tomorrow; but there was no reason for her to stick around now that he was better. His beastmates would be home soon and normal living conditions would resume, Shampoo would ignore him and Cologne would thump him on the head. Then he realized that he was dreading Shampoo's return. What was wrong with him? He was in love with her! Why was he wishing that Ranko could stay? That made no sense.

He was lost in thought when Ranko knocked softly on the door. "Mousse I left fresh towels and pajamas for you" she called. Was that why? Because she made him feel loved and cherished. Mousse wrinkled his nose, as an Amazon male he'd better not get too used to this treatment. There was no way Shampoo would ever pander to him like this! He got out of the bath that had been drawn for him, dried off and got into the clean clothes that had been lovingly laid out for him. 'What was weird about this picture?' he thought, then returned to his bedroom to find Ranko had put flowered sheets on his bed and substituted his comforter for a much nicer one. He looked questioningly at Ranko, "you didn't have any spare sheets, so I borrowed these from Kasumi" she explained.

'Too much pampering' he thought, but then didn't object when she ran her hands up the back of his pajamas and massaged his sore back. "Do you like that" she asked, anxious to please him now that her poor darling was better. All he could do was sigh with contentment. "Would you like to watch some TV?" she suggested and turned it on. He stood up to allow her to sit down and then realized that he was still slightly dizzy.

"I'd better sit in the chair" he said.

"Nonsense, there's plenty of room on the couch for two" she chided. He sat down. "Put your head in my lap" she suggested.

He blushed "that really insist necessary" he said.

"Come on just try it" she said and then he let her pull him down. It was surprisingly comfortable lying this way. Her toned thighs made a nice pillow he realized and he enjoyed the closeness as much as she did. She loved to have his silky hair sprawled over her flesh and managed to repress her naughty thoughts.

They watched half of Kill Bill when his eyes started closing. "Time for someone to go back to bed" she said softly. She helped the sleepy boy back to his futon and tucked the covers around him. On impulse she removed his glasses, folded the arms and then placed them beside his futon. For Mousse this was the most intimate thing that anyone had ever done for him. 'Could love really be like this? Full of comfort, gentleness and respect' he wondered as he drifted off, he smiled when a ghost of a kiss was pressed against his temple.

She watched him for a while longer and then returned to the couch and her sleeping bag.

Mousse got up the next day feeling completely healed, and he was ravenous. He sniffed the air and his stomach growled. He joined Ranko in the kitchen; she wore cute little orange pajamas that had a teddy bear the front. They were sleeveless, short in the leg and had a ruffle at the bottom of the shirt and cuffs of the pants. "What are you making?" he asked.

"Bacon, eggs and toast, I made lots just for you" she said and blushed when he dropped a kiss on top of her head without thinking. He'd loosened up around her after the sauna incident.

She watched him happily tuck into his food while she toyed with her own portion, her heart ached that she had to leave him. Pulling herself out of her dark thoughts, she managed to glow with embarrassment and pride when he enthused about what a great cook she was. She didn't even think anything of reaching out to straighten his collar.

"Mousse I would like to admit something to you" she said hesitantly.

"What would that be, that you tried to sneak nine items through an eight item express line at the grocery store?" he teased.

Unable to look at him she said "no I tried to seduce you in the sauna" she admitted.

That stunned him "really? But why?" he asked.

"I l-like you and I wanted to make love to you. I'll never know what it is to love" she said and started crying.

Mousse gravely held her 'how much longer' he wondered. "Ranko I'm honoured that you chose me, but I promised Shampoo a long time ago that I would be faithful to her" he said. "Or I would make love to you in a heartbeat" he promised her.

"I know, that you would never cheat on someone you love is an honourable thing" she said pulling herself together.

"Ranko, you mean the world to me" he promised her, the thought of losing her was killing him. That he would have to face her body as Ranma and know that it would never again contain her sweet soul. She was so wonderful.

"But I'm not Shampoo" she said.

"No you're not" he finished lamely. "I want to be with you until the end" he promised.

She smiled in a bitter sweet way "sounds almost like a wedding vow"

"I think it is" he agreed. He went on to try and cheer her up with talk of the dance that was coming up soon. He knew that she was looking forward to it.

She forced herself to pack though she loathed leaving him. "I'll pick you up in the morning, we'll hit the farmer's market, buy stuff for a picnic and then I'll teach you how to skip rocks" he promised her when he dropped her off. She gave him a sunny smile and went into the house. He felt like his heart was being torn out to see her go.

He walked home and started to laugh when he saw that she had left him the stuffed kitten doll that he'd won her at a street fair in his bed. Ranko adored cats; it was further proof that she wasn't any part of Ranma whatsoever. She'd taken to sleeping with it. Mousse picked it up inhaled the scent of it like it was a rare perfume, it smelled like her.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry, the only beta I have is myself, I put out too much volume for someone to have to go through. They would have to either be an insomniac or have no life or job of their own to keep up with me. I'm not that cruel ;)

Keep in mind I write and proof this at work, sometimes I can't do too great a job as I am doing my job at the same time.

Sid

******

Ranko went down to breakfast; she was looking forward to spending the entire day with Mousse. Not even her father's look of disapproval could dampen her happy mood. She wanted to look her best, so she'd painstakingly curled her hair with a curling iron that she'd borrowed from Kasumi. This had transformed her natural waves into loose ringlets that she's tied back with a ribbon that matched her eyes. She wore a blue smock top and knee socks that matched the ribbon and had on a loose, black skirt that ended just above her knees that had the barest whisper of lace at the hem. She hadn't bothered with makeup, other girls in school were trying to talk her into trying it, but she felt she didn't need any. She'd been blessed with a perfect complexion that a fake blush would look silly on and she needed no other colours other then her clear, blue eyes.

She sat down at the table and avoided looking at her father, hoping that he wasn't in the mood to fight. He glared at the mockery of his son, hating this button and bowed version of him. Every feminine thing she did was an insult to Ranma. As far as he concerned, she was an unclean spirit possessing a body she had no right to. He was ready to wash his hands of her. Akane didn't seem to care for her and Nabiki couldn't stand her. She said that she couldn't sell photos of Ranko to Kuno anymore, he refused to buy them. He watched while she retrieved her keys from her pocket to put them into her ribbon trimmed purse. He noticed a photo keychain had been added. "What's that?" he demanded.

Ranko turned pale and said, "nothing father" and tried to hide it.

"Let me see that picture BOY" he barked at the trembling girl.

With her hands shaking, she handed him her keychain. Genma roughly turned the heart shaped frame over and flew into a rage at what he saw. The photo was of her and Mousse, Mousse cradled a fluffy grey kitten in his hands while she had her arm around him. Both were smiling and her free hand stroked the kitten's fluffy head.

"What the hell is this?" Genma raged at her.

With a wooden tongue she answered "that's us with Muko"

"Who's Muko?" Genma asked in a deadly calm voice.

"He's our kitten; Mousse's friend's cat had a litter of them about a month ago. He's our favourite; we combined both of our names, to name him" she explained, then plunged forward with what she wanted "Father, Muko's ready to go to a new home in two weeks. Mr. Tendo, Father, can he come live here?" she implored them.

She gasped when she was bodily lifted and thrown against the wall. Her father grabbed her by the throat and pinned her there.

"Mr. Saotome" Kasumi objected.

"Don't interfere in family business" Soun Tendo chided and she reluctantly sat down.

Ranko gasped with pain as her father ripped the ribbon from her hair so hard that he took a chunk of hair with it. "You disgust me, you won't use your martial arts, you won't wear your old clothes, you talk in that pathetic voice, and you're mooning over that boy. I hate all of your simpering ways. You're not my son! My son is afraid of cats. I don't know where the hell you came from, but I hope you go back there real soon. No one wants you here! You're a disgrace to the Saotome name" he yelled and struck her head against the wall with every point. Ranko didn't even try to resist him as her head crashed against the wall time and time again. She could only stare with horror into his angry face while the others looked on. Her eyes filled with tears at the pain and that no one tried to stop him.

Mousse had become accustomed to letting himself inside the Tendo residence when he came to pick up Ranko. He opened the door; he heard yelling and walked in the direction of it. Breakfast a was much calmer affair now that Ranko was in Ranma's place. Mousse started in surprise to find Ranko's own father beating her head against a wall. "Unhand her" Mousse cried in rage. Genma released her in shock. Ranko had tears leaking down her cheeks with bits of hair stuck to them, and her hair itself was in disarray.

Mousse scooped up her ribbon and handed it to her; he pulled her into an embrace and whispered for her to go fix herself up, after examining her head for lumps. "I need to speak to your father" he said, fixing hate filled eyes on him. Kasumi led her away, while talking to the frightened girl in a soothing voice.

After Kasumi helped her redo her hair, Ranko opened her journal and wrote "Ranma if this is your father and life, you can take them back any time. I don't want them anymore"

Mousse strode towards Genma trembling with rage "I won't give you the beating that you so richly deserve because she hates violence. You should be ashamed of yourself for treating your own flesh and blood like that. Now I can see where Ranma got his cloddish manners from, which would be your lousy parenting. I now feel sorry for him for having a father like you. It doesn't matter what she was born as, you have a daughter now and should protect her. Her name is Ranko, her favourite colour is purple, she likes bright sunny day and butterflies. She wants to be a vet so that she can look after sick animal. She is bright, friendly and popular. She's more a person to me than your cartoon character of a son ever was. Of course you're to blame for him being one dimensional. You betroth your son many for person gains and leave him to clean up the mess. I guess that I should be glad that you never had a daughter, or you would be pimping her by now just so that you wouldn't have to work. You're fat, lazy and useless and you know. If you ever touch her like that again, you'll be dodging knives and chains for the rest of your life, which I guarantee would be short" Mousse hissed, then turned his back on Genma and went to check on Ranko, leaving Genma frozen in shock.

Akane was stunned that the normally respectful Mousse would threaten Genma like that. The look in his eyes and tone of his voice she'd only ever heard when someone was threatening Shampoo.

He knocked on the door, "its open" she called.

Mousse was relieved to see Ranko was looking better, he sat down and took her hand "you okay?" he asked.

"Much better now" she said.

"Good, he's never going to bother you again" Mousse said.

"Yes he will, he hates me" she said.

"If he does, then you will come live with us" Mousse said firmly. "You can have my room" he offered.

"I couldn't throw you out of your room" she protested.

"Then we would have to think of something" he said and then blushed at what that implied.

"Do you still want to go out today?" he asked.

"More then anything" she said.

Mousse helped her gather a basket and blanket for their picnic and then exited the house with his arm wrapped protectively around her.

They sat in the park picnic-style after going to the market, Ranko had cheered up when she was surrounded by friendly people who kept on greeting her and in the glorious sunshine. Mousse liked how easily she could talk to people in her soft, cheerful voice. She sat beside him and watched the flight of a bumblebee drunk on pollen. "He reminds me of father drunk on sake" she commented and Mousse roared with laughter, her own sunny, bright laughter joined his.

"Another peach?" she asked and handed him the basket.

"Nah, I'm pretty stuffed" he replied.

"We still have lots of food left" Ranko observed.

Just then they heard a voice cry, "am I in Osaka? I need food and water!"

Ranko turned to see a muscular, young man wearing pale yellow clothing and a bandana crawling on the ground. "Oh that poor man, mister you can share our picnic" she called to him.

"No Ranko that's....." Mousse protested.

Ryoga turned his head in the direction of the angelic voice of his saviour, he was about to thank her when he realized who it was. Suddenly finding strength in his exhausted body, he flung himself towards the girl and cried "Ranma prepare to die!" he was surprised when she screamed and ran away. It was almost comical that Ranma was acting like a real frightened girl, until he was doused by a cold spray of water. P-Chan was surprised to see Mousse holding a dripping hose.

"I'm sorry Ryoga, but I couldn't let you hurt Ranko" he explained and gestured for her to return. She did so warily, keeping a suspicious eye on the pig as if she didn't know him.

"He's Jusenkyo cursed?" she guest.

"Yes, this is Ryoga, he's an old friend turned enemy of Ranma's" Mousse explained. "Now Ryoga, this is Ranko, not Ranma" Mousse felt it kind of odd to see other animal cursed people, the human intelligence residing in them was unnerving. "Look at her closely; she's the female personality that Ranma represses. He's not here" Mousse said. Ryoga narrowed his eyes and examined the cutely dressed female. He could spot the differences immediately, this girl's demeanor was shy and modest and Ranma wouldn't be caught dead in her pretty outfit with its matching hair ribbon. "If you believe me, then nod and I'll turn you back" Mousse said. Ryoga nodded. "You promise not to attack her? This is important; Ranko can't use Ranma's martial arts. You could hurt her" Mousse cautioned. If nothing else convinced Ryoga, that did it.

Mousse heated up some water on Ryoga's camp stove while Ranko ducked around a tree to give them some privacy. When Ryoga was completely dressed, Mousse called her back.

"Hi you must be Ryoga, my name is Ranko. I hope you like chicken" she said as she loaded up a plate and handed him a bottled water. Ryoga tore into the first food he'd had in two days and then turned his attention to her. Ranma wouldn't have shared his food like this. "Nice to meet you Ranko, sorry I scared you" Ryoga said.

"It's okay, I'm getting used to people jumping on me thinking I'm Ranma, good thing that Moussie's around to take care of me" she gushed affectionately.

Ryoga could only gap 'Moussie?' he thought as glanced from one to the other and wondered what the hell was going on, especially when Mousse blushed at this.

When Ranko became engrossed in helping some small children fly a kite, Mousse and Ryoga just watched her. "So it's really true?" he asked in awe.

"She's been like this for almost two weeks. I've been taking care of her" Mousse explained.

"Are you a couple?" Ryoga asked.

Mousse blushed and rubbed the back of his head "no we're just friends. I like her and she seems amused by me" he explained. "Besides Shampoo's the only girl for me"

She turned and waved at Mousse, Ryoga noticed his eyes soften and his expression get noticeably sappy and said in an ironic voice "Shampoo's definitely the one for you" this was lost on Mousse.

They all skipped rock and both boys taught Ranko how to, until she managed to skip one three times in a row, and then both boys were treated to a squeal and a flurry of hugs.

"Well Ranko, I have a surprise for you. My old circus is into town, would you like to get a look behind the scenes?" Mousse asked.

"I'd love to" she said and then she realized that Ryoga probably didn't have a place to go. "Can Ryoga come too?" she asked and noticed how the lost boy lit up.

"Of course" Mousse said.

Mousse loved how Ranko was brimming with excitement and kept on casting him worshipful looks when his old friend, Xien Chung recognized Mousse and let them for free. His eyes lighted on Ranko "is this your girlfriend?" he asked Mousse.

Ryoga watched the awkward pair blush and spoke up, "they're just friends" before they could say something stupid.

They hit the midway first "which one?" Mousse asked when he had worked up to the premium prize level on a dart game. "The elephant" she said and it was in her hands a second later. Ryoga took the huge thing and attached it to the back of his pack.

Ranko and Ryoga were delighted to watch the performances under the big top and then go backstage to meet everyone.

A smiling Mousse and Ryoga watched Ranko antics as she ran from one place to the other with a heart shaped balloon tied to one wrist. This fluttered as she moved and made her seem younger than her sixteen years, which Mousse realized she actually was. She was enjoying herself and that was what he wanted. He didn't know how much longer she would have her own body, knowing Ranma, not that much longer. She was like a kid in a candy store and he made it so that she could sample everything. Her face shone with happiness and that made him glad. He took her to the petting zoo and watched her coo over the miniature horses and donkeys.

Then they turned to the rides, she was fairly green in the face when Ryoga took her onto the roller coaster. She swore never again.

"So what ride do you want to go on then?" Mousse asked her.

"The fairest wheel" she said.

"But that's for couples" Ryoga protested, then said "perhaps you should go with her Mousse?"

Mousse got into the basket with her and watched her blissful expression as they went high enough to see her dojo. The dying sunlight shone in her hair and made it into red fire that blew to caress his cheeks; this made him shiver and she snuggled closer. When they got stuck at the top during unloading, she said with glowing cheeks "I've heard that you're supposed to kiss if you get stuck at the top"

Mousse blushed too "do you want to?" he asked.

"Yes" she responded and sighed when he pressed his lips softly against her own. She looped her hands around his neck while his arms snaked around her tiny waist. This time their kiss was soft, gentle and sweet. She tasted of cotton candy, peaches and promises. His tongue slipped inside her mouth to caress her own. He moaned into her mouth as her body settled against his, this startled them both and they drew apart. He opened his mouth to speak, but they both jumped as their basket was opened and they exited blushing, and then laughed at their mutual embarrassment. Ryoga just smirked at them.

They dropped Ryoga off at his friend's house and then Mousse walked Ranko home. "I had a great time today" she said.

"Glad you did. You ready for the big dance tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes I'm already packed to go to the hotel" she said enthusiastically.

"Perfect, I'll pick you up tomorrow. We can make our way there during the day, then we can take our time getting ready in the room" he suggested.

"Sounds perfect" she said and beamed at him. Impulsively he bent forward to kiss her again, knowing that no one could see them from this angle. It was just as gentle as before, yet it electrified him and both were breathing heavy when they pulled away.

"I'd better go" she said somewhat breathlessly.

"Goodnight Ranko Darling" he said.

She glowed at the pet name and quickly went in before he could see her blush. She managed to sneak into her room without anyone seeing her. She threw herself down on the futon and fished out her diary. She wrote in it 'Ranma, I've heard that you don't care for Mousse, but I would like you to be the first to know that I'm wildly, butt crazy in love with him' then she added some sketches of hearts and signed it 'Mrs. Mu.' There were no stars to be found in the sky that night; they were all in her eyes.

Mousse was in a similarly good mood when he thought about their perfect day, but something troubled him and he just couldn't seem to put his finger on it. Then he remembered, darling was his pet name for Shampoo. It was an honour he bestowed upon her because he loved her.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry this is late, something happened over the weekend that brought a family crisis to a boil that shall be on going for a while that robbed me of my creativity, appetite and perhaps sanity. I shall finish this story but don't know when I shall be on here again after this.

Sid

*******

Flashback

Ranko and Shampoo were shopping for the perfect dress. They had hit China town again as Ranko had her heart set on wearing a cheongsam to go with the theme.

"Ranko when you going to find dress, you tried on hundreds of them?" Shampoo asked, it was no fun shopping when she had to use her own money.

"I have to find the perfect one" answered the voice inside the changing room as Ranko slung yet another reject over the door.

"How will you know which is perfect one?" asked the exasperated Shampoo.

"I'll know" Ranko called back and opened the door. "What do you think of this one?" she asked. It was a royal purple colour with large flowers on it, slit to her thighs and had a key hole neckline. She noticed that all the boys in the store were eyeing her with interest and heard someone whisper 'really cute'. "Looks like we found it" she announced and went to put her clothes back on. Shampoo had already carried her dress to the counter and paid for it, she handed Ranko the bag. "You didn't have to pay for my dress" she protested.

"Shampoo didn't, Mousse did" she explained. "He gave me money for buy you dress" Shampoo said, she was somewhat perturbed that he was spending money on other girls, even it was only Ranko. "Rather surprised, he cheap since he saving for laser surgery" she commented.

Ranko froze at this, he hadn't told her about this and he'd been so generous with her. She'd felt somewhat guilty about the money that he had been spending on her as it was. She herself had used hardly any of the money that she'd earned as tips as she didn't really have a lot of expenses and people were very generous. She'd just been banking it and was planning to buy Mousse a nice present with it. Now she thought of a bet use for her money.

The next day she closed her bank account and gave the draft to Shampoo, to give to Mousse the day after they went to the dance.

Ranko was excited even getting on the packed train to get to the hotel, Kuno had offered them a ride in his limo but they wanted to get there earlier. Mousse had managed to find them seats and watched the glowing girl; it amused him how excited she got about everything. She'd been talking about the dance for weeks now and kept on hinting that she had a beautiful dress for it, but wouldn't let him see it.

Ranko practically squealed when she saw how fancy the hotel room was, thick cream coloured carpeting, dark wood furniture, luxurious drapes and sheets on the bed. Her favourite part was that each room came with a bathrobe that they got to keep. "What a nice place" she exclaimed and bounced on the expensive mattress.

Mousse sat down beside her "you're going to break your bed" he chided.

"Then I would have to share your bed" she teased. Mousse just shivered at the idea and felt like energy was suddenly crackling between them. She looked at him in a smoldering, hungry way and felt short of breath. Meanwhile Mousse was breathing heavier, quickly he sat back.

"We should start getting ready so that we can make the dinner on time" he said and retreated.

Ranko spent almost two hours getting ready, something that the non-vain girl had ever done before. She curled her hair, applied unheard of makeup and then carefully pulled her dress on and did up the frogs. There was a knock on her door and she opened it. She waited for Mousse to say something, but he was dumbstruck by her beauty. He could only stare at the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen. She didn't have rainbow coloured hair like the girls that he'd grown up with and lacked their proud towering, height, yet she still was the most beautiful.

"Well?" she asked nervously.

"You look so beautiful" he said, drinking in her beautiful purple cheongsam and matching shoes with kitten heels. She wore some dark eyeliner and mascara to enhance her beautiful eyes and a mere whisper of matching lipstick graced her full lips. Her hair had been styled into soft ringlets and a flower that matched her dress was tucked behind one ear. She looked both exotic yet wholesome at the same time.

"You do too" she said shyly, he wore the back suit and white dress shirt that they had bought together and a tie that matched her dress. It was a whimsical touch that she and Shampoo had spent a long day shopping for.

He frowned at the beautiful comment, guys weren't supposed to be beautiful, but he was. The severe colour drew attention to his eyes; he'd purchased contacts for in honour of the occasion and his long, loose hair hung down his back like a silken curtain. She thought he looked good enough to eat and she was famished to experience his physical love.

"Dinner?" he asked as if reading her thoughts. She blushed and then took the arm that he offered.

Kuno's table was elegantly set and offered all the delicacies that the hotel kitchen had. Both were surprised that Kuno was accompanied by a lovely blonde named Hina, who was surprisingly normal, didn't seem to find Kuno odd and was an old friend of his. In his own dark suit, Kuno looked like any other confident, handsome boy there. Ranko found pleasure in their company; both were relaxed, amusing people who had obviously known each other since diaperhood. However she couldn't take her eyes off of Mousse or he off of her.

Mousse watched while Hina and Ranko danced the fast songs together, they seemed fast friends and it was only a matter of time before they kicked off their shoes and became like little girls dancing to their parent's old records. Ranko was a natural when it came to dancing and clearly enjoyed it. She was like a butterfly taking wing for the first time, gorgeous but bright, shiny and new. He enjoyed watching her experience life the way that she was meant to be as a beautiful kindly woman. Other men watched her just as intently as him, but it was to Mousse that she flashed her sweet, happy smile. They looked at him with envy that this glorious creature was with him. She ran over to him in her bare feet as unself consciously as the three year old she never got to be and seized his hand.

"Slow song, will you dance with me?" she pleaded, turning her animated face to him. She was flushed from dancing and her eyes shone with happiness.

"I don't know how to dance" he explained, loathing to disappoint her. She gestured to how couples were shuffling zombie-like in a circle while clinging to each other.

"You mean you can make chains shoot out of your every orifice and you can't do that?" she said with good humour.

He realized that she did have a point, this dance required no grace or sense of rhythm, something which both of them possessed in spades. Her tiny hand seized his and he allowed himself be dragged unresisting onto the dance floor. She stood before him as dainty as a bird and waited until his arms encircled her waist and drew her close to him before her own hands snaked around his neck and she settled her sweet body against his. She laid her head trustingly on his breast and relished hearing his heartbeat as they swayed; to her the moment was magical to be held so close by her love. They moved in time and gradually arms tightened around each other in order to get as close as they could. The slippery fabric of her dress lay under his hands and he could feel her body heat while her heart fluttered against him. His own beat just a bit too fast at her proximity and......something else.

All of his life he knew that he would marry Shampoo and be perfectly happy for the rest of his life. Now he questioned that, Shampoo had always had a bad temper and been a bit spoiled. Lately he'd been questioning if he loved her or not. He'd started to see her through other eyes; she wasn't perfect as he had originally thought. Her eyes were a little too close together, her Japanese grammar horrible and her manners too overtly sexual for his tastes. Then there was the constant hitting; that really irked him. Perhaps he'd loved her once when he was really young when she'd seemed like fairytale princess to him and the embodiment of perfection. He loved her still, but more like a sister and he was starting to realize that. Ranko's lips grazed his jaw and he shivered.

He looked down into her mirror bright eyes while she gazed lovingly back at him. 'She's only an illusion. She's not even a real girl. I love her' Mousse realized and gasped out "I love you" in surprise.

Ranko pulled her head back sharply "what did you say?" she cried.

"I love you Ranko" Mousse repeated and then they were kissing. She kept whispering how much she loved him between frantic kisses, until Mousse felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned around to Kuno's grinning face. "I think that young love is beautiful, but perhaps you could take this romantic scene to a more private venue and let these people have their dance floor back?" he suggested. Mousse and Ranko turned bright red to realize that they were still clinging onto each other in the center of the dance floor. They hadn't even realized that a spotlight was trained on them.

They started laughing and then Mousse said "I think we shall. Would you care to skip the rest of the dance?" he asked Ranko.

Ranko shivered nervously for a second, she got chills down her spine at what that implied. "I'd love to" she said bravely.

Mousse carried her bridal style over the threshold of their hotel room, he knew this was the only wedding night that they would ever have and wanted their first time together to be perfect. He set her down and dimmed the lights as she found a romantic music station and turned that on softly. Then they turned to each other. Love, Mousse had pursued it all of his life. He'd starved for it, he'd fought for it and he'd begged for it and now there it was being given freely and unconditionally. It was a soft love, a soothing gentle love, not the sort at all of violent, cloying love that he would have found with Shampoo. It was the love of a companion, friend and lover. Her eyes leaked tears of happiness as he reached for her, yet all he did was press a kiss softly into the center of each palm before drawing her towards him. He trembled with emotion as he undid the frogs of her dress and eased the side zipper down. She mewed softly as it fell into a shimmering heap at her feet and she was scooped up and set on the bed.

She waited to feel embarrassment as he undressed himself until he wore just his boxers, but she never did. He sat down beside her and just stroked her belly as if to sooth her. His mouth had gone dry at the sight of her clad only in tiny panties and a bra that had matched her dress. She looked up at him so trustingly; she shivered when his hair brushed her naked skin as he bent to kiss her. Her soft tongue sought his and he groaned. She was beautiful, Mousse had seen Ranma pretty much naked before (who hadn't?), but that she inhabited his body made it more poignant and sweet to him.

"Mousse are you a virgin too?" she asked nervously, hoping that he was.

"Yes" he answered.

She was elated and felt like she'd won the greatest prize ever. "I am to; I've touched myself, but never inside. I wanted you to take my maidenhead" she said.

Mousse smiled at her speech and then covered her lips with his own, knowing that he would soon be seeking another set to kiss. His tongue explored her sweet interior while his hands gently undid the front hook of her bra and separated the material to bare her to his gaze. She moaned into his mouth and arched her back as he lovingly played with her pink tipped nipples and then lowered his head to taste the satin buds. She put her hands behind his head to hold him to his task. His fingers slipped into her panties to caress her red curls and titillated her clit. Ranko writhed at the sensations and surrendered herself to his loving hands. She didn't protest when he slipped her panties down her legs and then took off his own boxer shorts. She blushed when his hard cock sprang into view, but forced her small hand around it and surprised him by kissing it. Seeing liquid leaking out of the tip, she licked it experimentally. Now it was his turn to gasp as she licked and gently nibbled his sensitive head.

"Now you calm down or I'm going to cum too soon" he said pushing her back. She grinned at how masterful he was. Then felt his breath on her exposed pussy lips just as she had always imagined, then a tongue lapped her velvety interior as Mousse ate out her sweet core. It was better then in Ranko's dreams. Her hands tangled themselves into his silky hair while she hard came with cry on her lover's lips. He lapped the nectar from her and then looked up at her, her own look was that of pure love and he returned it a thousand fold.

She reached out to him silently begging for him to take the final step that separated them as man and woman; it was her own small hand that guided him to her slick, glistening pussy lips and held him at the ready to make a woman out of her. Mousse moaned as she rubbed him there slightly and he just shallowly penetrated her tunnel of love. Ranko bit her lip in anticipation as she felt him come against her barrier to bliss and cried out in pain as he tore through it. She whimpered slightly while he stroked her hair and whispered sweet nothings to her. It seemed like forever before he started slowly pumping himself inside her hot tightness, loving how she clutched at him. It was a bit uncomfortable for her at first and then slowly pleasure snuck in beneath the pain and she joined his carnal rhythm. One hand circled his back while the other rested on his butt as they made love. For both it was the sweetest experience that they could have imagined and wanted it to last, Ranko's orgasms rippled through her endlessly. Yet there was no lust involved only pure true love, desperately she wished to get pregnant as Mousse's cry of bliss joined her final one. Not sure how much time they had left, they made love twice more that night.

Ranko couldn't sleep from happiness, so she watched Mousse sleep while she wrote an entry to Ranma:

Ranma, I hope that you can forgive what Mousse and I did with your body, but it's mine to and we're in love.........

The next day Mousse awoke to the sight of a nude angel greeting the sun. He tenderly wrapped her up in the same blanket of himself and sat her on his lap while she giggled. "I never want another man to see you naked you little exhibitionist" he mock chided.

"No only you get to do that" she promised and hugged him feeling cherished and loved as much as did he. "Mousse, I wish that we could have married" she said wistfully.

He held her tighter "we could today, it wouldn't be legal but I know a priest who would" he offered. He knew that they only had so much time left together and wanted to make her happy however he could.

Her sad mood dissipated "you would marry me even if we only had a few days together?" she asked.

He cupped her cheek "I would marry you if we only had a single afternoon left" he promised her.

Ranko clung onto Mousse's arm the way she had since they left the hotel, she was so happy she felt like she was floating. She didn't care that her marriage wasn't legal or that they wore a pair of matching cheap, silver rings that they bought from a street vendor on the way over to the temple. She didn't care that the priest had been drunk and knew little Japanese when he married them in Mandarin. Or that it looked like he hadn't straightened up his temple in years. All that matter was that she'd married Mousse.

Mousse was happy too; his new wife looked so happy that she was positively glowing. He couldn't stop touching her either. "What do you want to do first Mrs. Mu?" he asked, knowing that she liked that name.

"Go tell Shampoo and Cologne" she said and practically dragged him after her; he laughed just as drunk on love as her. They were stopped when a large group of ninjas surrounded them. (A/N I made these guys up)

"So this is where you've been hiding Ranma, have you been disguising yourself as a chick to try and get away from us?" the dark hair boy in front sneered. "Looks like you need another lesson. We've been looking for you for weeks now while you were playing house with your boyfriend" he taunted.

He was mildly surprised when Mousse shoved Ranma behind him and said in a neutral tone of voice "sir, she lost her memory, she doesn't have a clue who you are" Daiko wouldn't have suspected that Ranma was gay.

"Please don't hurt us, I'm truly not Ranma" Ranko begged, causing the young rogue wonder. Then another form of attack to the other marital artist's honour formed in his mind, if it was true and Ranma was now truly just a frail girl.

"So our last encounter pounded some sense into Ranma? Very well, guys kill the pretty boy and then we get to have fun with the girl" he ordered and leered at Ranko. She shrank behind Mousse at what they were suggesting.

Mousse cursed that he left most of his weapons behind and shoved Ranko out of the way. "Run" he cried to her as he was surrounded. He used every skill that he'd ever acquired to try and draw them away from his love. He dodged, struck and parried, but there were simply too many of them and they were attacking from all angles. Mousse cried out when one punched him hard in the stomach and then they were upon him in a single non-stop ball of pain. He could just make out Ranko struggling in a grinning boy's arms to get to him. Then suddenly she was surrounded by blue battle fury.

Ranma saw his fellow martial artist being outnumbered and dived into the fray. One by one he taught those mofos a lesson until he was the last one standing. He went over to Mousse and asked "yo Mousse you okay?"

Mousse could feel the blackness beckon him, but before he gave into its sweet, painless embrace he saw his sweet Ranko standing before him. He reached for her, expecting her to tenderly nurse him as usual and take the pain away; instead she spoke to him in Ranma's voice. Mousse realized what had happened and started weeping as he sank into oblivion. Ranma could only wonder how great his pain was if it caused the normally stoic boy to cry.

He went up to the nearest person and borrowed their cell phone to call for an ambulance and then the Nekohanten to let the other Amazons know about Mousse. He looked down in shock to find himself wearing a ruffled hot pink blouse and a blue skirt trimmed in the same coloured lace. He quickly deduced that he wore female underclothes as well. He blushed to be dressed that way 'what the hell happened to me?' he thought to himself, he couldn't recall a thing after Daiko's gang attacked him.

Seeing that no one else had arrived yet, he went to the hospital with the still unconscious Mousse. He felt compelled to stay with him for some reason.

Ranma sat in the waiting room and filled in the newly arrived Amazons as to Mousse's condition. "He's fine; he didn't receive any life threatening injuries. The main things are: a broken arm, a badly wrenched knee and internal bruising, he's going to be awful sore tomorrow" he explained. "Well I gotta go home and change" he said distastefully.

Cologne watched at him closely to see if anything remained of Ranko "don't you want to stay with Mousse?" she asked.

Ranma looked at her like she had grown two heads "why, Mousse isn't my problem? Take care of him yourself you old ghoul. I'm going home for dinner, I'm starving" Ranma announced and went home to where people celebrated his recovery, leaving a lonely Chinese boy alone to mourn his wife.


	10. Chapter 10

One more chapter to go.

Feeling a little better today, thanks you well wisher.

Btw the reason why seeing Mousse being injured brought Ranma back was because his martial arts were locked from Ranko and he morphed forth to rescue him.

******

Mousse woke up and feeling dizzy as he wasn't used to the demerol that they'd injected him with to numb his pain. The first sight that met his eyes was Cologne; she looked so grim and muppet-like that he started laughing.

"Mousse wise up, I have some very important questions for you" she said sharply and then touched a pressure point on him to allow this to happen. Mousse sobered up immediately but didn't feel pain, he looked at her questioningly. "Did you and Ranko make love?" she asked him.

"I don't see how that's your business?" he replied.

"It's very important. I have to know if there's a possibility that she might be pregnant. It would greatly benefit the tribe" she explained.

"I don't see how my making love to my wife would benefit the tribe!" he retorted hotly at the private nature of the question.

Cologne went pale "what did you do boy?" she demanded narrowing her eyes at him.

"Nothing, we got married in the sense that we went through the motions. It wasn't legal" he explained his eyes filling with tears at the realization that Ranko was truly gone.

Cologne frowned at him "you love her" she stated.

"Yes" he sobbed.

For once in her life she felt pity for the boy "I didn't mean for that to happen" she said awkwardly.

Mousse looked at her sharply "what did you do?" he demanded.

"I knew that Ranko was falling for you so I encouraged her carnal interest in you. I didn't know that you would develop feelings for her as well" she explained.

"But why would you do that? She was an innocent" he cried.

"How do you become an Amazon?" she asked.

"Either you marry a tribal member or you're born into it" he replied and then turned white as a sheet. "You wanted her to become pregnant so that Ranma would join the tribe another way!" he hissed.

"Our tribe is too inbred, that's why we depend on outsiders to bring new genes into it. Ranma's a powerful warrior and will spawn lots of proud daughters in either form" she explained. "Shampoo's getting nowhere with the male Ranma, but Ranko loved you and I thought we could use this to our advantage. I thought that your love for Shampoo would protect you" she said.

Mousse's eyes grew as hard as marbles "so I was to be used as a stud horse in an effort to trap Ranma?" he said coldly. "You can't stand me unless I can serve a purpose for you. I loved her and you played on those emotions"

"You did what a proper male should and followed orders very well. You will be rewarded for protecting Shampoo's airen so well and should it turn out that you impregnated her, and then we shall let it be known that you're the father of her child" she said, Mousse didn't look impressed as he should. "Mousse you knew that she couldn't stay, we need Ranma. Besides the way that she catered to your every whim was unnatural, you know the way things are supposed to be" she said softer.

"How things are supposed to be?" Mousse said with a bitter laugh. "She was nice to me, she treated me with respect and she loved me. How was that wrong? So I suppose that the way I'm supposed to be treated is: being ignored, ridiculed and abused?"

"Mousse you know your place" Cologne chided.

"Not anymore, she changed me. I don't want your rewards. I would like to remain with you long enough to recover and then I'm going back to China with the kitten that we adopted. It's not like I can take my wife with me. If it turns out that Ranma's pregnant then you can tell him where to find me for retribution" he said.

"You are to remain. I shall even grant you my permission for you to marry Shampoo if you can ever manage to defeat her, you've finally proven yourself worthy of her" Cologne offered.

"I can't stay here nor do I want to. Nor do I want to marry Shampoo anymore, I want Ranko! Do you think that I could stand seeing Ranma using her body to entice men and to cadger snacks? I can't see her anymore, it would be too painful" he said and started sobbing in anguish. Cologne touched a pressure point that put him to sleep. Now she felt genuine sympathy and she wondered if there was someway that she could help him. She went back home to ask advice from the other Council of Elders members. She fired up her computer and went into their private chat room; the internet really had changed everything she marveled.

When Ranma got home, the first thing he did was announce that he was back. Once he'd managed to convince everyone that he was back to normal, he went to his room and literally tore off the clothes he had on. He was a little surprised by the couple spots of blood on the crotch of his panties and the soreness between his legs, but shrugged it off as women stuff. He noticed a silver ring on his finger, he noted briefly that it looked a bit like a wedding ring and took it off.

He frowned at his transformed room. His futon had hello kitty sheets on it and lace trimmed pillows. The walls had been decorated with oversized fans and lots of colourful scarves had been pinned to the walls. A vanity had been added to the room and the top was scattered with colourful hair jewelry and a couple of necklaces. The mirror had pictures crammed into the corners that featured Mousse. Ranma took one out and studied it, Mousse sat on the bleachers wearing a school uniform. His smile as happy and his long hair gleamed in the sun, he looked confident and relaxed. Ranma had never seen him like this. Realizing that the way the pictures were displayed was how a teenaged girl normally did her boyfriend's, Ranma shuddered. He had so many questions and wasn't sure he wanted to know the answers.

He took his bathing equipment and went to the onsen. He sighed as he dumped a bucket of hot water over his head and regained his true form. He looked down at his familiar body fondly and then stood up much taller then before. After a nice long soak in the furo, he returned to his room and tightly braided his hair. Once he was back into his regular clothes he felt as good as new. Then he went to find Akane to ask about Ranko. He'd become her once before and that brief time was frightening, he could only imagine what several weeks as her as had done to his reputation.

"She was a sweet, naive young girl who hated violence. She didn't know any martial arts, so we asked Mousse to keep her safe from your enemies" Akane explained.

"What was the nature of their relationship?" Ranma asked suspiciously.

"They became inseparable friends and she had a crush on him. He seemed to like her too, but I doubt I went anywhere" Akane replied.

Ranma frowned at what might have happened to his body, he imagined Mousse touching him and almost puked. "Why would she like a guy?" he asked.

"She was very feminine, she loved kittens, embroidering, cooking and longed for marriage. It didn't seem odd that she liked a male and Mousse's a good looking guy" Akane explained with a shrug.

"She like c-c-cats?" Ranma asked nervously.

"She wasn't like you at all Ranma" Akane said fondly. "We're all glad that you're back" she said. "Are you glad that you're back?"

"Definitely" Ranma said, yet underneath it all he felt such a sense of sadness and loss.

A few days later, Mousse was brought home. Cologne watched him carefully walk up the stairs on his stiff knee and could tell that he was too proud to admit his pain. "I'm going to bed" he announced, even the brief trip had hurt his poor, abused body. "Shampoo you will help him get ready for bed" she ordered Shampoo.

Shampoo stiffened in outrage that she was expected to look after an inferior male. "Mousse can take care of self!" she protested, while Mousse looked surprised at the order.

"He got injured protecting your airen. You're helping him" she ordered the irate Shampoo.

Shampoo cursed in Mandarin and stomped into his room ahead of him. Getting impatient with how long it was taking him to undo the frogs on his robe with one hand, she undid them herself and slipped it off over his cast. She did have to admit that the copious amount of bruising on his slim, muscular torso was a pitiful sight. She turned her back while he removed his pants and then handed him his pajama pants with her eyes closed. He used her shoulder to lean on as he eased them up his injured leg. "There you done, now go to bed" she said and turned to leave.

Mousse felt worse having Shampoo helping him, he could only compare Shampoo's rude abruptness to Ranko's loving patience when she'd nursed him. If it had been her, she would have helped him dress and undress so carefully. She would have fluffed his pillow, helped him into bed and fussed over him until she deemed him to be comfortable enough. Then she would have gotten him a pitcher of water and a glass to make sure he took his pain medication and another pillow to prop up his leg with. Then she would have sat with him until he fell asleep. "Can I have a glass of water and a pillow for my leg?" he asked Shampoo. She stomped off to grudgingly get them; tears ran down his cheeks as mourned his wife. He was a widower without a body to bury.

Cologne heard a knock at the door and opened it to find a police officer there "I'm here to drop off your friend's stuff" he explained and handed her Mousse's suitcase from that night. Curious, she opened it to find a diary with a rainbow on the cover. In flower trimmed kanji it read 'this is the diary of Ranko Saotome; please give this to Ranma Saotome.' She opened it to the first page and started reading 'Hello Ranma I would like to introduce myself, my name is Ranko and I was born the day that Mousse found me unconscious in the street.......'

Mousse returned to work a few days later at his insistence, lying around made him feel sorry for himself, so with a stiff leg and only one hand he served customers. Cologne watched him; it was like a part of him was missing, like he was dead inside. Sure he was polite to the customers and served them correctly but preferred to keep the talking to a minimum. With Shampoo and Cologne he gave only one word answers and seemed to be avoiding them whenever possible.

With the exception of the night before, Shampoo had given him a package from Ranko that she'd forgotten about. It had turned out to be a bank draft for a large amount of money and a CD. He'd borrowed Cologne's computer to watch it on and came out of her room crying. Cologne found that he'd forgotten it in the disk drive and watched it. It was a recording of Ranko; she sat in a chair and said to the camera. "Mousse, I've given you my savings so that you can have your operation and get those gorgeous eyes of yours fixed. It's all there except for the ten thousand yen that Nabiki charged me to borrow her video camera. I have a confession to make and want to say this before I chicken out; I'm wildly, crazily in love with you. You're probably going to say to find another guy because you're already taken....." she said and nervously tucked her hair behind her ears and then continued "but you're the only man for me. I wish that you could feel the same, but I'm just as glad that you're my friend. Now stop watching to this and call the clinic to set your appointment up. I want to be the first thing you see clearly after your operation" she admitted with a blush and then the CD ended.

Ranma had been flexing his muscles and eventually managed to convince people to forget about Ranko, though some of the guys kept saying how cute she was. He was back to normal, but kept getting flashes of depression when someone mentioned Mousse. Ranma hadn't seen him since the hospital, he'd dropped out of school and had sent back Ranma's uniform via Akane.

Ranma could have sworn that the other man was avoiding him. Finally he felt compelled to go visit the Neko Hanten. Ranma was surprised when Mousse barely even glanced at him when Shampoo glomped to him. He managed to shake her off and made a point of sitting in Mousse's section. Mousse approached him warily "yo Mousse you feeling better? Bet you'll be back to fighting me in no time" he said cheerily, wondering why he felt giddy in his presence.

Mousse didn't, he couldn't fight Ranma again as he might hurt him and by hurting him, he might hurt Ranko. "No I won't, I'm leaving for China in a few days. Please look after Shampoo for me, she's like a sister to me" he requested of Ranma.

Had Mousse suddenly started French kissing him, Ranma couldn't have been more surprised. "But I thought that you loved Shampoo!" he protested.

"I thought I did to until I learned what real love was" Mousse replied.

"Well congratulations, is this lucky lady going with you" Ranma asked.

Mousse turned away from him "she can't. I'll go get your order" he said brushing at his tears.

Seeing him in pain, Ranma without thinking put his arms around him and pressed his cheek into the other boy's cool hair. Both froze and blushed when they realized that customers were staring at them. Ranma hastily pulled away at the same time as Mousse whipped around as if struck by lighting. Ranma's hand got stuck on a necklace around Mousse's neck and Ranma stared in confusion at the silver ring threaded onto it, it looked so familiar to him. "Mousse I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me" Ranma said with a tomato red face.

He expected the other boy to hit him for his emotional display but instead he just looked longingly at him, as if searching for something in him and then said. "It's alright, it wasn't you" and departed for the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Ranma asked Cologne.

She handed him a book and said "you need to read this and then come find me" she said cryptically and pogo-ed away. Ranma blinked in surprise at the name Ranko Saotome.


	11. Chapter 11

Ranma waited until he got home and closed the door to his room before he opened the diary and read the introduction that Ranko had written for him. She seemed like a nice, warm person and Ranma felt himself being sucked into her tale. He was so engrossed that he almost didn't go for dinner when Kasumi called for him, almost that is. With a full belly he returned to his reading.

She wrote about how the light flashed iridescently across a butterfly's wing as it flew past her, how sunshine felt on her face and how bird song filled her ears every morning. She seemed to have a zest for life that was unparalleled. She simply seemed to be in love with the world and found simple things magical, but the main thing that she wrote about was Mousse. She seemed to be quite the artist, realistic drawings accompanied her kanji. She obviously found herself drawn to the Chinese martial artist and she wrote about him in glowing terms. Ranma learned how he took care of her after he found her unconscious in the streets. How he became her bodyguard at Akane's request and of her growing love for him. This was a side of Mousse that Ranma had never known. It was hard to picture him buying dresses for the young unwanted girl. How he accepted her when no one else would and befriended her. He read long descriptions of them spending their days together, going on walks, feeding ducks or just hanging out. She made observations about him along with sketches of him smiling, walking and a strange one of his butt with made in China on it. Ranma could only speculate on that one.

Ranma started to emotionally experience what she had based on her descriptions. He felt her sadness at living in the Tendo house where no one wanted her. He felt her joy at being asked to the dance. He was baffled when she said that Kuno and Ryoga were both her friends. He felt a surge of joy when she admitted to him that she was in love with Mousse. His heart soared when they slow danced together and he almost cried with happiness when they made love. Suddenly they weren't just her memories and what she experienced came back to Ranma in a flood. It burst into his consciousness, he saw everything she did in the time she was here and experienced her feeling of pure love when she looked at Mousse. He made himself read her final entry

"Mousse thinks that I'm using the bathroom and is probably wondering what's taking me so long. Ranma, I have to tell you that he married me and I'm so happy! Don't worry; it wasn't actually legal, you won't return to find yourself with a husband and lots of explaining to do :) I know that what I did with your body was wrong, but I only had a few precious handfuls of weeks to experience life and you've had sixteen years, be fair. I feel blessed that I was allowed this time to live and love and hope that you do too. I've got to go; we need to tell Cologne and Shampoo about the wedding. I hope they approve. Sorry I never got a chance to know you, you seem like a nice guy. By the way, the silver ring on your finger is my wedding ring :)"

Ranma closed the book and wiped a tear away, then approached the vanity that he had yet to remove and picked up the small silver ring and examined it. It was virtually identical to the one that Mousse had been wearing on a chain around his neck. Now he understood his grief. What must it be like being married to someone who doesn't exist anymore?

He whispered "I'm sorry Ranko" he could feel a wave of pity and realized that she was still inside of him. She was stronger this time and her emotions were affecting his, which was why Ranma had hugged Mousse. It was her; she was trying to comfort her grieving husband. She wasn't just a figment of his imagination; she was a fully formed personality who wanted to live her own life.

He went to seek out Cologne as she'd ordered him to. He arrived at the Neko Hanten to find out that Shampoo had gone to visit a friend for a few days. He was relieved as this gave him a chance to talk to Cologne.

"So you know who she is now?" she asked him.

"Yes she's the woman that Mousse loves" Ranma answered. He watched while Mousse limped towards the onsen to take a bath and longed to comfort him. Ranma frowned at this; it was like he was possessed. "What can I do about this?" he asked her.

Cologne took a sip of her tea and said "I had both a great-grandfather and a great-aunt when I was little. They were both born from the same womb and on the same day, yet they weren't twins"

Ranma was confused by this "they were triplets?" he guessed having heard the riddle before.

"No my great-grandfather was Jusenkyo cursed liked yourself because he chose to be. He sought out the spring of the drowned young girl and jumped into it so that he could live as both a man and a woman. He was fully bi-sexual and wanted to take both a wife and a husband, however that became too hectic, so he sought help from a witch doctor and she developed a spell that successfully separated both halves of him. They both lived long, individual lives with their chosen spouses and remained friends until the end. I have this spell in my possession and believe it can done if you're willing to try.

Ranma narrowed his eyes at this, "Happosai tried that before and I almost became a vampire" he pointed out.

"Happosai stole an incomplete copy of the original scroll from me years ago, so it was no wonder that the spell went wrong. However I have the scroll right here" she said and held it up. "But you have to be willing and you understand that you can never turn into a female again. I know that you don't particularly like that aspect of yourself, but think about her really being gone. You could never use her to distract men or to gain food again. The choice is yours Ranma"

Ranma thought about it and felt elated at the prospect 'never going to be a girl again, never going to be a girl again' floated happily through his head "I think I can live with that" he said with a smile. "Wait is the catch that I have to marry Shampoo?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm not doing this for Shampoo, I'm doing this for Mousse" she said, "Their doomed love was mainly my fault and I feel that I owe the boy" she said.

Ranma was surprised to see her look regretful about anything "I accept, but I need a second alone" he requested. Cologne left and he whispered "Ranko is this what you want?" he felt a surge of joy in answer.

Cologne returned "shall we do this right now?" she asked.

"Yes, what do I have to do?" Ranma asked.

"Leave everything to me" Cologne assured him; she made him lie on the ground and made a circle of rocks around him. "Stay within the rocks" she cautioned him. "Just so you know, some personality traits might get mixed up but it shouldn't be anything major. Also there might be some minor discomfort"

Ranma gulped at this, but forced himself to remain calm as Cologne started chanting in a language that was probably older than time. She slowly paced around the circle as she chanted and then leaned down and placed a charm over Ranma's heart and drew a line down the centre of his forehead with a type of red paste. Ranma's breath came in gasps when the stone circle suddenly flared with blue light and it felt as if his soul was being torn apart. The pain became more intense and he shrieked as something slid from him. Cologne intoned the final chant and then peered anxiously into the circle, beside Ranma lay a naked red-headed girl. "Ranko" she cried and Ranma looked in surprise to see a girl that could have been his sister lying beside him. He surged to his feet and helped her up.

She slowly opened vivid blue eyes and said "Ranma?"

"Ranko?" he asked just as stunned.

She smiled in a way that Ranko never had, she was still her but with more confidence and less innocence. Ranko had been a child, this Ranko was a woman "Actually I think I would prefer to be called Ranma for now, I was never sold on the name Ranko" she said.

"Child, you're different" Cologne said.

"I am the being you knew as Ranko with minor differences, I am a powerful martial artist just like Ranma" she explained. Ranma took off his red shirt and covered her with it.

"Do you still love Mousse?" he asked her.

Her eyes softened "with all my heart, I want to do nothing more then spend the rest of my life with him" she said.

Both people visibly relaxed at this "he's planning on going back to China, do you wish to go with him?" Cologne asked.

"Yes. Where is he, can I see him?" she asked.

"He's taking a soak in the furo" Cologne said. "You can wait until after he's done."

"I don't want to, no time for reunions like the present. I think I need a bath anyway, I suddenly feel really dirty" she said suggestively. This caused Ranma to blush and Cologne to become amused, she wondered if Mousse was going to be able to handle his new super sexually charged wife.

Mousse undressed and removed the ace bandage from his knee. He put a bag over his cast, washed himself carefully and dumped a bucket of water over himself. He smiled at the antics of Muko, the fluffy grey kitten had followed him into the onsen and was batting at puddles of water. Then he carefully lowered himself into the furo with a groan, there was nothing like warm water to soothe an aching body. He settled back and put a cloth on his head. He was surprised when the door opened and Ranma came in in his girl form. She wore just his red shirt and this allowed her long, toned legs to show. Wearily he examined her and then said "very funny Ranma, please leave"

"Why I need a bath too? It's not uncommon for husbands and wives to bathe together" she said and took her shirt off.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Mousse cried.

She didn't answer but calmly turned her attention to the kitten "Muko" she cried and scooped him up to settle his fluffy head under her chin. Mousse's eyes went wide with shock, especially when she set him down and walked to the furo. She tested the water with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, got in beside him and didn't change!

"Ranko?" Mousse said in surprised.

"In the flesh darling, Cologne separated Ranma and I using a spell. I've missed you so much" she said settling into his arms. He started sobbing to be holding her again. She cupped his cheeks "I'm yours if you still want me" she said softly as she stroked his tears away.

He tightened his arms around her "Of course I do, I missed you too"

"I hear that you're going to China, I want to go with you. It's time I met my in-laws and we got legally married" she said and drew him in for a loving kiss. "Now I don't really like the name Ranko, could you just call me Ranma until we find a name we both like?"

"I'll call you anything you like Mrs. Mu" Mousse said happily and then they were kissing again. He moaned when she caressed his cock, he could feel himself responding as she pumped him to hardness. She leaned forward so that her slick breasts were cradled against his chest.

"It seems that you owe me a wedding night. You're injured, so you have to lie back while I do all the work. Don't move a muscle" she chided and straddled his lap to impale herself on him. Mousse's head lolled back and he moaned to be inside her hot tightness. Her cries joined his as she rode him hard causing water to splash everywhere.

"That was a nice thing you did" Ranma said to Cologne.

"Mousse isn't such a bad guy" she conceded. Then the moans started and Ranma went beet red when he realized what they were doing.

"Are they?" he asked.

"They're having sex" Cologne replied.

Ranma looked around uncomfortably, he felt like a voyeur. "Perhaps I should go?" he suggested and placed Ranko's silver ring in the centre of the table for her to find.

"There's nothing perverse about what they're doing, it's perfectly healthy to express love this way" Cologne said in amusement.

"That doesn't mean that I have to listen to them" Ranma protested.

"You would leave me alone with them?" Cologne chided.

Ranma ground his teeth in frustration "would you like to catch the new movie with me then?" he asked.

"Why, I do accept. Wait until I tell Shampoo that we went on a date together" she said, then cackled at the expression on his face as he shut the door behind them.

"You realize that Shampoo will still pursue you?" she pointed out.

"I don't think that death would stop her" Ranma muttered sourly.

Mousse looked at his wife through his newly healed eyes. She had found a clinic to perform his surgery soon after they'd moved to China and shortly after their huge Amazon wedding. "Well can you see me?" she asked anxiously.

"Your eyelashes are slightly lighter than your hair, you're getting freckles across the bridge of your nose from being in the sun so much and you're the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen" he said and then smiled when he was suddenly holding his excited wife.

He waited until her squeals of pleasure had died down and then started playing the name game. She still went by Ranma, so Mousse had started 'collecting' names to test them out with her. "How about Lily?" he asked her. She took his hand and placed it on her belly "I love that name. Perhaps we should call our daughter that?" she said suggestively.

"You mean?" he asked in surprise.

"You're going to be a daddy" she said with love in her voice. He pulled her into an embrace too happy for words. He gazed over her head wondering what the future would bring. Whatever happened he would see it clearly and wouldn't have to face it alone.

Ranma finished painting Akane's portrait.

"Can I finally see it?" she asked impatiently.

"Yes" he said.

She smiled at beautiful picture that he'd painted of her and silently thanked Ranko for giving him her artistic talent and easing his natural stubbornness.

"It's so beautiful" she said hugging him.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you" he replied hugging her back.

"Now why don't we go to your room and find a place to hang it?" he suggested.

Akane looked at him shrewdly and thought about what they'd secretly been doing in her room lately, she quirked her brow at him and said "I thought that you'd never ask" so they departed forgetting to bring the picture.

FIN, THE END, FAIT COMPLETE


End file.
